"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" by Mary Elizabeth Frye

 

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep

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 sun 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 stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there; I did not die.

Enjoy the poem with music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/xXRsasnScnw

Who wrote the poem "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep"?

Mary Elizabeth Frye (November 13, 1905 – September 15, 2004)

Mary Elizabeth Frye was an American poet and florist who became famous almost exclusively for a single poem: “Do not stand at my grave and weep.” She was born in Dayton, Ohio, and lost her parents at 3. With no formal education, she was an avid reader and had a remarkable memory. In 1927, she married Claud Frye, a clothing business owner, and became a housewife and florist. In 1932, she wrote the poem “Do not stand at my grave and weep” to console her houseguest, a young Jewish woman, Margaret Schwarzkopf, for her loss of her mother. She died in 2004 at the age of 98.

"Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" explanation

Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was staying with Frye in 1932, couldn’t visit her dying mother in Germany because of the rabid anti-Semitism. At the news of her mother’s death, Schwarzkopf told Frye that she had never had the chance to “stand by my mother’s grave and shed a tear.” Frye wrote this poem on a brown paper shopping bag to console Schwarzkopf, who greatly valued it and said that she would keep it forever. Because people liked the poem, Frye circulated it privately. She never published or copyrighted the poem. She said “I thought it belonged to the world; it didn’t belong to me. I still feel that way … it was written out of love, for comfort.” For so long, the author of this mysterious poem had been disputed until Frye’s authorship was finally confirmed in 1998 by Abigail Van Buren, the newspaper columnist better known as “Dear Abby.” The poem has been read at funerals and other memorial services including those for the Challenger space shuttle and the 9-11 terror attack.