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Jun 26, 2024 · ‘Death is Nothing at All’ by Henry Scott-Holland is a comforting poem that addresses the subject of death from a unique perspective. The poem brings solace to those grieving, emphasizing the continuity of love and life beyond death.
- Stanza One
- Stanza Two
- Stanza Three
- Stanza Four
- Stanza Five
- Stanza Six
The poem begins with the speaker repeating the line that became the title of this piece, “Death is nothing at all.” This repetitionemphasizes the fact that this mantra is not something to be said and then forgotten, but a much larger theme that will last throughout the poem’s entirety. As a reader, it is important to refer back to this line as one ...
The second stanza continues the speaker’s claim that nothing has really changed between the two. He asks his listener to “Call [him] by [his] old familiar name.” He does not wish to be treated, or thought of, any differently because he is now dead. Additionally, he wants everyone, especially this person who means so much to him, to speak “in the ea...
The speaker takes the third stanza to remind his listeners of all the pleasant times they’ve had in the past. He wants to make sure that he/she remembers when “we always laughed” and what “little jokes” they had together. There is nothing depressing about this speaker’s outlook on death. He sees it as being a simple change from one place to another...
It becomes clear by the fifth stanza that the speaker is very sure in his beliefs. He begins to repeatthe same ideas over and over again, one on top of the other, in an effort to make sure that his listener has no doubt in his/her mind about how he wants to be remembered. He sees the time after he has died as being an “absolute unbroken continuity....
In the second to last stanza of the poem, the speaker takes a turn from the repetitive notions that he has been explaining to his listener. He tells her/him that he is “waiting.” He is somewhere quite close by, as close as “Just around the corner.” In a separate line, the speaker states that “All is well.” There is nothing that his listener or anyo...
In the final stanza, which is formatted differently from those which proceeded it. Although it appears different, the sentiments are the same. The speaker explains that nothing in the universe is either “past” or “lost.” Everything exists on the same plane, and on this plane is Christ. In one last plea to the speaker, and attempt to alleviate gener...
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
All that matters shall go on as if death had never been. Have we all felt like that now and again standing by the bed? True, we shall not be able to keep that mind. Alas! it will pass from us. The long, horrible silence that follows when we become aware of what we have lost out of our daily intercourse by the withdrawal of the immediate
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Jul 11, 2023 · It is also a defiant poem that assures us that death cannot break the human spirit or extinguish our capacity for love. There are a number Thomas’ poems that would be equally fitting for a funeral, such as “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” or “And You, My Father.” “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson
Nov 2, 2023 · This beautiful poem, "Death is Nothing at All", honoring the departed was adapted by Irish monks and make popular, used often at Irish funerals, the Carmelite monks in Tallow, County Waterford.
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.
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; 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! Henry Scott Holland. Print this funeral poem.
