You can shed tears that he is gone Or you can smile because he has lived. © 2020 The Funeral Program Site All Rights Reserved.
I was shocked. "You can shed tears that she is gone..." is the opening line of a piece of popular verse, based on a short prose poem, "Remember Me", written in 1982 by English painter and poet David Harkins (born 14 November 1958). You can remember him and only that he is gone Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
At the time it was written, Harkins was a bakery worker and aspiring artist living in Carlisle, Cumbria. You can remember him and only that he is gone Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on, You can cry and close your mind be empty and turn your back, Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on. Popular funeral poem based on a short verse by David Harkins. At first, I couldn't believe it. Browse more funeral hymns to find the right song for your loved one’s funeral, ©2020 All Rights Reserved Funeral Zone Ltd. Most Popular Funeral Guides and Articles. She Is Gone (He Is Gone) You can shed tears that she is gone. Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on. After he married, the couple moved to Silloth, and Harkins turned to visual art, principally painting nude and erotic portraits, many of his wife, and selling them online, as well as caring for the couple's disabled son. [1][2][7] They later returned to live in Carlisle. Video PDF. [4] It was reported that the verse had been circulating on the internet since at least 2000, and The Times said that it "had previously been used to mark the deaths of a 52-year-old Scottish alcoholic, a 15-year-old high school baseball player, and an Australian glam rock star killed in a helicopter crash. Pam, a one act play from 1987, was my last piece of work inspired by Anne. He is gone – a poem by David Harkins. Two close friends have recently lost their fathers. "Systems crashed and telephone lines were blocked at the Times," reported columnist Philip Howard, and the lines were attributed variously to Immanuel Kant, Joyce Grenfell and nameless Native Americans. An uplifting poem about being grateful for a loved one’s life.
Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on. It has subsequently become a popular choice to be read at funeral ceremonies, although according to Harkins it was originally written about unrequited love, rather than death.
David Harkins.
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET MARIE CURIE http://www.justgiving.com/poeticexpressions. Written 1981 (David Harkins 1959 -) Silloth, Cumbria, UK Or you can smile because he lived,
Written from the point of view of the person being laid to rest. A short funeral poem by Ellen Brenneman. How to Plan a Funeral - Discover the Easy Secrets to Arrange the Perfect Funeral for Your Loved One, Funeral Poems for Mom - Find the Most Special, Loving Funeral Poem for Your Mom. You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back, Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left, Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her, Or you can be full of the love that you shared, You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday, You can remember her and only that she is gone, Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on, You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Your Life. We did have the poem of that title on our site as from late 2001, but we had no idea at that time who had written it. Not what you’re looking for? You can cry and close your mind be empty and –David Harkins I was 23 when I first met Anne Lloyd, my inspiration for the poem I called 'Remember Me'. Beautiful remembrance poem, ideal for a funeral reading or eulogy.
Phil Coleman, "Carlisle artist looking for homes for 200 pictures", Verse by David Harkins, including 'Remember Me', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=You_can_shed_tears_that_she_is_gone&oldid=952173715, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 20 April 2020, at 22:33. Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
Afterglow
[8] He is not to be confused with an Edinburgh-born abstract artist also named David Harkins. Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on. "Anon" seemed the best bet. It is not clear by whom the changes were made. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on. FREE 2-DAY SHIPPING - ALL PRINT ORDERS OVER $200 - SHOP NOW, AMERICA'S TEMPLATE & MEMORIALS SUPERSTORE. [4][5], According to a report in The Guardian:[1]. You can shed tears that he is gone,Or you can smile because he lived,You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back,Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left.Your heart can be empty because you can't see himOr you can be full of the love that you shared,You can turn your back ontomorrow and live yesterday,Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.You can remember him and only that he is goneOr you can cherish his memory and let it live on,You can cry and close your mind be emptyand turn your back,Or you can do what he would want:smile, open your eyes, love and go on. Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. An uplifting funeral reading about finding peace in the afterlife and saying goodbye to loved ones. "[4] The piece was published as the preface to the order of service for the Queen Mother's funeral in Westminster Abbey on 9 April 2002, with authorship stated as "Anonymous".
Anne posed for me about eight times, and we met regularly for a couple of years and talked a great deal, though we never even kissed, which is probably why I poured all my feelings about her into my poetry. Print this funeral poem [6], Harkins' involvement in writing the verse was made public by his local newspaper, the News & Star, in September 2002.
[1] The Queen read the poem in the printed order of service, and was reportedly touched by its sentiments and "slightly upbeat tone".
We read it in the Times. We had found the untitled poem on an order of funeral service sheet that a kind friend had sent in. Video PDF. Types of Funeral Flowers - Which One Is the Best to Choose? Let Me Go. Funeral Guide www.funeralguide.co.uk . You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back
As it turns out David Harkins had written the piece in the early eighties, though not as a funeral oration, but in homage to an unrequited love. A short funeral poem by Helen Lowrie Marshall about happy memories living on after a loved one has gone.
A comforting and uplifting funeral poem by Oxford professor Henry Scott Holland. In the early 1980s Harkins sent the piece, with other poems, to various magazines and poetry publishers, without any immediate success. He said that he had given up writing verse in 1984, commenting that "I was never a good writer, and my poetry wasn't very good either. This proved difficult as her mother was present throughout. Although Harkins wrote a one-act community play performed in Carlisle in 1987, he gave up writing soon afterwards and worked in a food factory and as a cleaner.