Death Is Nothing At All

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 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 always 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 effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it

Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well

Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting
When we meet again!

Canon Henry Scott-Holland, 1847-1918, Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

Shortened Version

Death Is Nothing At All

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 ...
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near, just around the corner
All is well

Miss Me But Let Me Go

 When I come to the end of the day
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little, but not too long
And not with your head bowed low.
Remember the love we once shared -
Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take
And each must go alone
It's all part of the maker's plan
A step on the road to home.
When you are lonely and sick at heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds -
Miss me, but let me go.

Author Unknown