Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep

"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" is a poem written in 1932 by Mary Elizabeth Frye. Although the origin of the poem was disputed until later in her life, Mary Frye's authorship was confirmed in 1998 after research by Abigail Van Buren, a newspaper columnist.[1]

Poem text

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die.[2]

Origins

There have been many claimants to the poem's authorship, including attributions to traditional and Native American origins. Dear Abby author Abigail Van Buren researched the poem's history and concluded in 1998 that Mary Elizabeth Frye, who was living in Baltimore at the time, had written the poem in 1932. According to Van Buren's research, Frye had never written any poetry, but the plight of a German Jewish woman, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was staying with her and her husband, had inspired the poem. Margaret Schwarzkopf was concerned about her mother, who was ill in Germany, but she had been warned not to return home because of increasing unrest. When her mother died, the heartbroken young woman told Frye that she never had the chance to "stand by my mother's grave and shed a tear". Frye, according to Van Buren's research, found herself composing a piece of verse on a brown paper shopping bag. Later she said that the words "just came to her" and expressed what she felt about life and death.[1]

Frye circulated the poem privately, never publishing or copyrighting it. She wrote other poems, but this, her first, endured. Her obituary in The Times stated that she was the author of the famous poem, which has been recited at funerals and on other appropriate occasions around the world for 60 years.[3]

The poem was introduced to many in the United Kingdom when it was read by the father of a soldier killed by a bomb in Northern Ireland. The soldier's father read the poem on BBC radio in 1995 in remembrance of his son, who had left the poem among his personal effects in an envelope addressed 'To all my loved ones'.

The poem is common reading for funerals.

BBC poll

To coincide with National Poetry Day 1995, the British television programme The Bookworm conducted a poll to discover the nation's favourite poems, and subsequently published the winning poems in book form.[4] The book's preface stated that "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" was "the unexpected poetry success of the year from Bookworm's point of view"; the poem had "provoked an extraordinary response... the requests started coming in almost immediately and over the following weeks the demand rose to a total of some thirty thousand. In some respects it became the nation's favourite poem by proxy... despite it being outside the competition."[5] This was all the more remarkable, since the name and nationality of the American poet did not become known until several years later. In 2004 The Times wrote: "The verse demonstrated a remarkable power to soothe loss. It became popular, crossing national boundaries for use on bereavement cards and at funerals regardless of race, religion or social status".[1]

Translations

The poem has been translated into Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Ilocano, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, and other languages. Several Swedish versions exist. One version starts: "Gråt ej vid min grav..." Translated, it reads: "Do not weep at my grave - I am not there / I am in the sun's reflection in the sea / I am in the wind's play above the grain fields / I am in the autumn's gentle rain / I am in the Milky Way's string of stars / And when on an early morning you are awaked by bird's song / It is my voice that you are hearing / So do not weep at my grave - we shall meet again." (Instead of these last four words there is also this version: "I am not dead. I only left".)

Every so often the poem and similar variations appear in death and funeral announcements in Swedish morning papers (such as Svenska Dagbladet August 14, 2010).

On August 29, 2010, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter carried the following short English version: "I am thousand winds that blow / I am the diamond glints on snow / I am the sunlight, I am the rain / Do not stand on my grave and cry / I am not there / I did not die".

Derivative works

Several notable choral compositions, pop songs, and other creative works have been based on "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep", adapting lines from Frye's poem as lyrics.

In popular culture

CHIẾN SĨ VÔ DANH

Đừng đứng bên mồ tôi khóc rũ

Tôi nào ở đó, tôi không ngủ

Tôi như ngàn gió thổi bay qua

Tia sáng lung linh trên tuyết mù

Là ánh thái dương trên lúa chín

Là giọt mưa thu thánh thót ru

Khi người dậy sớm lúc bình minh

Tôi là ngọn gió đưa đàn chim

Bay vút lên bầu trời thẩm xanh

Tôi là tinh tú sáng trong đêm

Đừng đứng bên mồ tôi khóc rũ

Tôi nào ở đó, tôi bất tử

 Sa Việt 160301(Mar 1, 2016)

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mary E. Frye". The Times (London, United Kingdom). 5 November 2004. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  2. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/do-not-stand-at-my-grave-and-weep/
  3. "Obituary". London Magazine. December 2005.
  4. The Nation's Favourite Poems. BBC Books. 1996. ISBN 978-0-563-38782-4.
  5. Geoff Stephens. "Who DID Write the Nation's Favourite Poem?" October 2002. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  6. "The Snow Queen - A magical adventure told through songs and poems. BBC1 Christmas day 9am". Thesnowqueenpkj.com. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  7. "Spirituals". Lizzie and Baba. Section "Prayer: Lizzie West". Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  8. "Do not stand at my grave and weep : SATB choir by Joseph Twist : Work". Australian Music Centre. 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  9. "Free by Ben Crawley". Boy Choir and Soloist Directory. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  10. "Rudi Tas : Homepage". Ruditas.be. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  11. "Rudi Tas: Do not stand at my grave and weep". YouTube. 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2015-03-04.

External links

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