Mary Elizabeth Frye

I hate this poem. I always have. Even if the idea of someone becoming one with the universe and nature is comforting, the poem completely invalidates and ignores the experience of the grieving people left behind. It expressly FORBIDS them to grieve - DO NOT WEEP. DO NOT CRY? ! ? ! ? ! ? People who love and miss someone usually need to, want to weep, to cry. It's NORMAL to do so - even if you believe that you somehow are still connected to your loved one through the rain and the stars. This is just another loathsome, maddening example of how our culture is grief-phobic, grief-ignorant, and is squeamish about NATURAL reactions to loss. I hate how viral this poem has become, because it just reinforces the damage of forbidden, unsupported grief. Some people DON'T need to cry when they grieve - if that's really normal for them, fine. But tears after a loss - most of us shed them. Quit stomping on our grief.

this is just the words i've been looking for, they are truly heart felt and no other words can describe this poem to me it says it all

this poem touched me, made me think of my grandad it is somthing i knew he would say if he could.

Very good and cmforting

I read this at my Mom's Wake. Ironically, when Mom was admitted into the hospital for brain cancer, I was going through the mail. The PBA Magazine had arrived. Inside it mentioned an NYPD Crossing Guard who was killed. The family of that Crossing Guard submitted that poem under thier Mom's name. After reading it, I was very moved. Earlier, we had recieved word that Mom would definately die, it was just a question of when. So I went online and printed out the entire poem. Rehearsing what was to happen was easy. I was able to recite the poem with no trouble. Then there was the Wake itself. Several people spoke about Mom in one way, or another. Then it was my turn. 'Do not stand at my grave and weep' (I got through the first line okay. No tears, choking up, etc) , I continued. As I got about 1/3 of the way through the 3 line, I was not only choking back tears, but actually crying. This woman who lay here, well that is my Mom. Here I am saying goodbye. Not very easy. Afterwards the poem was actually finished, so I walked over to Moms coffin and knelt down and prayed. As I was doing so, I was holding her hand. Before I said 'Amen', I slipped the poem into the coffin. Mom, I love you more and more, and miss you beyond words.

a Baltimore housewife and florist, best known as the author of the poem 'Do not stand at my grave and weep, ' written in 1932. She was born Mary Elizabeth Clark, and was orphaned at the age of three. In 1927 she married Claud Frye.

She was born Mary Elizabeth Clark, and was orphaned at the age of three. In 1927 she married Claud Frye. The identity of the author of the poem was unknown until the late 1990s, when Frye revealed that she had written it. Her claim was later proven by Abigail Van Buren.

Why was the audio disabled?

Write comment MY comment is about a poem

This was given to me by a dear friend in the Lions Club, just after the death of our son. It is one of those poems that ends up staying with you. You get in a zone and make a connection with the departed that only a poems can generate. I share it at appropriate times with other close friends and I keep it on my home page for quick access.