"Death Is Nothing at All": A Funeral Poem by Henry Scott Holland
"Death Is Nothing at All" is a well-known funeral poem, which expresses the idea that death is not something to be feared or mourned, but rather a natural part of life.
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Death Is Nothing at All, by Henry Scott Holland
Death is nothing at all;
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I, and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort,
Without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you,
For an interval,
Somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.
Notes on "Death Is Nothing at All" Funeral Poem
What I personally like the most about it is the opening lines—"Death is nothing at all; I have only slipped away into the next room."—which reflect the comforting message that death does not sever relationships, but merely creates a temporary separation.
The poem beautifully suggests that life and death are interconnected, and that love transcends physical death.
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