Invisible Community Verses

Verses

Chorus of the dead


O, we the dead, we the dead, far more are we
Than you on the earth, than you on the sea!
We plough the vast croplands with tireless deeds,
You reap with your scythes, what has grown from our seeds,
And what we achieved, and what we begun,
It pours still up yonder, in the streams of the sun.
And all of our loving, our hating, our pains,
It beats still up yonder, in death endured veins,
With all the treasures weve gathered and found
All earthly behaviour forever is bound.
With our sounding, our forming, our singing, we fight;
To capture the crown of out-streaming light,
Seeking ever the great goals of humanity become free -
So honour and serve us! For many are we!

by: Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825?1898)

Reading this poem out at the beginning of meetings to remember the Dead can create a deep, beneficial mood. The translation, from The Up-rising in Dying (Adonis Press), is fairly free, so for those who can understand, the original German is printed below:

Chor der Toten

Wir Toten, wir Toten sind grössere Heere

Als ihr auf der Erde, als ihr auf dem Meere!

Wir pflügten das Feld mit geduldigen Taten,

Ihr schwinget die Sicheln und schneidet die Saaten,

Und was wir vollendet und was wir begonnen,

Das füllt noch dort oben die rauschenden Bronnen,

Und all unser Lieben und Hassen und Hadern,

Das klopft noch dort oben in sterblichen Adern,

Und was wir an gültigen Sätzen gefunden,

Dran bleibt aller irdische Wandel gebunden,

Und unsere Töne, Gebilde, Gedichte

Erkämpfen den Lorbeer im strahlenden Lichte,

Wir suchen noch immer die menschlichen Ziele -

Drum ehret und opfert! Denn unser sind viele!


back to top

You can shed tears...

You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and prey that shell come back
or you can open your eyes and see all shes left.
Your heart can be empty because you cant see her
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her and only that shes gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and
turn your back
or you can do what shed want: smile, open your eyes,
love and go on.

by: - Unknown

No one seems to know the origin of this poem, chosen by UK Queen Elizabeth for the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002, but literary critics are understandably unimpressed with its style. Given the simplicity of its structure, one is tempted to speculate that the words were penned to create a simple funeral song. Or perhaps they are just a quick translation from a foreign language. Whatever, there is no doubt their content has the power to touch the hearts of many and that is surely the most important thing. It shows that people are trying to approach death in a new wayand let what has been achieved in life stand in front of personal grief.


back to top

Die now...in this love

Die now, die now, in this Love die; when you have died in this Love, you will all receive new life.
Die now, die now, and do not fear this death, for you will come forth from this earth and seize the heavens.
Die now, die now, and break away from this carnal soul, for this carnal soul is as a chain and you are as prisoners.
Take an axe to dig through the prison; when you have broken the prison you will all be kings and princes.
Die now, die now, before the beauteous King; when you have died before the King, you will all be kings and renowned.
Die now, die now, and come forth from this cloud; when you have come forth from this cloud, you will all be radiant full moons.
Be silent, be silent; silence is the sign of death; it is because of life that you are fleeing from the silent one.

by: Jalal al-Din Rumi

The verse is number eighty in a volume entitled The Mystical Poems of Rumi. Regarded by the translator, A.J.Arberry, as the supreme genius of Islamic mysticism, Jalal al-Din Rumi preached and wrote poetry in Persia during the thirteenth century.


back to top

The Company

So many gathered in my room last night.
I felt them close all round me, existences,
Living presences, invisible essences,
Each centred in its own peculiar secret joy,
Each joy given being by a peculiar wisdom
Pertaining to its nature like a dimension,
Or like a world, enclosed within a spirit,
But none a spirit enclosed within a world.


Not in the world, and yet they gathered in my room;
Some stood still, inside the door, some
Thronged the firelight and the shadows; some hung
Like resting birds, in the curtains, perched high
On the bookshelves, poised on the opening flowers
Of a hyacinth, others hid in their own fiery darkness.


Where had they come from?
Out of my joy, out of my sorrow,
Living entities sprung into life from the dust
Of my existence, taking wing, making song?
Or were they there already before I came
Alone into my room, waiting
Until my joy should open eyes to see them,
Until my sorrow should reach down
Into the depths of being, and there find them,
Find such a company of living multitude?


by: Kathleen Raine

This poem by Kathleen Raine is taken from her Collected Poems, published by Golgonooza in 2000


back to top

Are you the dead?

Are you the dead?
Who hover like soft sunlight
Round my bed,

Who warm the gloom
And flood with tender quietude
This chill, dark room,

And did you start
This silent flow of peace
Within my heart?

Oh, is it you
Whom I so dearly love
And dearly knew.

Are you the dead?
Oh no love does not die,
We live!? they said.


by: Arvia MacKaye Ege

This poem is taken from a collection of prose and verses entitled 'The Up-Rising in Dying' published by Adonis Press, Ney York


back to top

Do not stand at my grave and weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not here, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die!

by: Stephen Cummings

This simple yet poignant verse was written by Stephen Cummings shortly before his own death from a landmine in 1989. Pictorially it suggests that the conditions that the soul lives in after death are quite different to our own, but perhaps not so far away from us as we might think.


back to top

To -

Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory-
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the beloveds bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

by: Percy Bysshe Shelley


back to top

May love of hearts reach out to love of souls

May love of hearts reach out to love of souls
May warmth of love ray out to Spirit-light
Even so would we draw near to you
Thinking with you Thoughts of Spirit
Feeling in you the Love of Worlds
Consciously at one with you
Willing in silent being

by: Rudolf Steiner

The above meditation is taken from a book of verses by Rudolf Steiner. It is for all those wishing to strengthen their relationships with those who have passed through the gate of death. It may of course also be used it the singular. The translation is by George and Mary Adams, and the book is published by Rudolf Steiner Press, London


back to top

For one who has died

The Good Shepherd lead thee
Where thou art transformed
That thou mayest breathe
The air of eternal being

Where thou workest as soul
For worlds to come
The grace of the Spirit
Unite us with thee

by: Adam Bittleston

This verse is taken from a little book entitled Meditative Prayers For Today, published by Floris Books. It contains verses for morning and evening, the days of the week, the months of the year and the Christian festivals. Also included are some meditations for special events such as this verse for the dead and a short commentary on the Lords Prayer.


back to top