21 Sympathy Poems for Comfort and Condolences

In times of loss, the right words can be difficult to find, especially when you are consoling a grieving loved one or speaking at a funeral. If you are having trouble articulating during this challenging time, browse through some sympathy poems which can provide comfort to someone who is grieving. Poems make beautiful additions to any funeral speech or thoughtful message in a sympathy card. Whether you are looking for kind words for a speech or searching for the right message to console a loved one, these sympathy poems are sure to be a comfort.

Sympathy Poems for Loss of a Mother

Losing a mother is one are the hardest times in a person’s life. Whether you are experiencing the loss of your own mother or speaking at the funeral for the mother of a loved one, these beautiful words will help you navigate through this troubling time.

Your Name

I wrote your name in the sand,
but the waves washed it away.

I wrote your name in the sky,
but the wind blew it away.

So I wrote your name in my heart,
and that’s where it will stay, always,

Jessica Blade

If Roses Grow in Heaven

If roses grow in heaven,
Lord please pick a bunch for me,
Place them in my Mother’s arms
and tell her they’re from me.

Tell her I love her and miss her,
and when she turns to smile,
place a kiss upon her cheek
and hold her for a while.

Because remembering her is easy,
I do it every day,
but there’s an ache within my heart
that will never go away.

Dolores M. Garcia

Remembering Mom

Our hearts are filled with memories, our eyes are full of tears.
Our lives are filled with missing you, each day throughout the years.
We pray you found the peace in death you couldn’t find on earth.
We hope we became the people you prayed for at our birth.
Each Mothers Day your love lives on, in our hearts & minds.
Each and every day our love goes on, for it’s the tie that binds.
Your inspiration led us on, pursuing happiness.

Lesley Woodrow Gibson

I Awake Each Morning to Start a New Day

I awake each morning to start a new day
But the pain of losing you never goes away.

I go about the things I have to do
And as the hours pass I think again of you.

I want to call you and just hear your voice
Then I remember that I have no choice

For you are not there and now my heart cries
Just to see you again to tell you goodbye

To say Mama I love you and I always will
And hope that much of you, in me you’ve instilled.

The day that you left I just didn’t know
That you were going where I couldn’t go.

And now all my memories of you are so dear
But gosh, how I miss you and wish you were here.

Who now can hear me when I need to cry?
It so hard to tell you “Mama goodbye.”

Someday I know all will be well
And I’ll see you again with stories to tell

Of how you were missed and how we have grown
And how good it is to finally be home.

Until then my memories of you I’ll keep near
And I’ll pass them on to those who are dear.

Claudia Lee

Sympathy Poems for Loss of a Father

Like mourning the death of a mother, losing a father is also one of the most heartbreaking seasons of life. Reading sympathy poems to yourself or others during this time of grief is a thoughtful way to bring comfort to those grieving over the loss.

Death is Nothing at All

Death is nothing at all. It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.  Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by the old familiar name.  Speak of me in the easy way which 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 that we 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 an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity.

What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
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 

Sympathy

There should be no despair for you
While nightly stars are burning,
While evening pours its silent dew
And sunshine gilds the morning.
There should be no despair – though tears
May flow down like a river:
Are not the best beloved of years
Around your heart forever?

They weep – you weep – it must be so;
Winds sigh as you are sighing,
And Winter sheds his grief in snow
Where Autumn’s leaves are lying:
Yet these revive, and from their fate
Your fate cannot be parted,
Then journey on, if not elate,
Still, never broken-hearted!

Emily Jane Brontë

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 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.

Mary Elizabeth Fry

Sympathy Poems for Loss of a Friend

When someone experiences the death of a friend, they might feel extreme feelings of loneliness. Let them know you are thinking of them in the wake of their loss by sending a thoughtful sympathy poem to let them know that they are not alone.

William Morecomb – In Memoriam

For a second you were flying
Like you always wanted to
Now you’ll fly forever
In skies of azure blue
We’ll see your smile in every ray
Of sunshine after rain
And hear the echo of your laughter
Over all the pain
The world’s a little quieter now
The colours have lost their hue
The birds are singing softly
And our hearts are missing you
Each time we see a little cloud
Or a rainbow soaring high
We’ll think of you and gently
Wipe a tear from our eye

Victoria Bruce

May the Road Rise Up to Meet You

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

Traditional Irish Blessing

The Parting Glass

Of all the money that e’er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm I’ve ever done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I’ve done for want of wit
To mem’ry now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be to you all

So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whate’er befalls
And gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all

Of all the comrades that e’er I had
They’re sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e’er I had
They’d wish me one more day to stay
But since it fell unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all

Fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whate’er befalls
And gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all

But since it fell unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all

Good night and joy be to you all.

Traditional Irish Blessing

Sympathy Poems for Loss of a Child

The loss of a child is one of the most tragic events that a person can go through. Love and support from friends and family is crucial for grieving parents. If someone in your life is experiencing the loss of their child, let them know how much you love them by sending a thoughtful message.

Fallen Limb

A limb has fallen from the family tree.
I keep hearing a voice that says, “Grieve not for me”.
Remember the best times, the laughter, the song.
The good life I lived while I was strong.
Continue my heritage, I’m counting on you.
Keep smiling and surely the sun will shine through.
My mind is at ease, my soul is at rest.
Remembering all, how I truly was blessed.
Continue traditions, no matter how small.
Go on with your life, don’t worry about falls
I miss you all dearly, so keep up your chin.
Until the day comes we’re together again.

Author unknown

My Secret and Sacred Bird

My secret and sacred bird now flies
To meet the Spirit’s vacancy.
All chaos of life today dissolved;
In me a surge of ecstasy.

Gold flames within my longing heart
Invoke the cosmos’ Parent-Sun.
A tapestry of Truth unseen
Bursts forth within; the Play is begun.

Sri Chinmoy

If I Should Go Tomorrow

If I should go tomorrow
It would never be goodbye,
For I have left my heart with you,
So don’t you ever cry.

The love that’s deep within me,
Shall reach you from the stars,
You’ll feel it from the heavens,
And it will heal the scars.

Author unknown

Sympathy Poems for Loss of a Husband

Losing your partner is a unique pain that can be very isolating. Let the widow know that they are surrounded by love by sharing a sympathy poem with them. The support from close friends and family will help them feel loved and cherished during this season of grief.

I Have Not Gone

You think I’ve gone, that I am dead, and life has lost its will,
But look around, I am right there, living with you still
I watch your tears, I feel your pain – I see the things you do
I weep as well, each time you cry, my soul, it lives with you

It gives such joy to hear you laugh, and do the things you do
And when you smile o’er by gone days, I smile right with you too
For we’re still one, just you and me, one mind, one soul, one being
Walking forward into life, though only you are seen

And in the stillness of the night, when the pain it really starts
Stretch out a little with your mind and draw me to your heart
For I am always right in there, always by your side
For you have been, all my life’s days, my joy, my love my pride.

Author unknown

Untitled

He’s only gone on ahead of you,
Not just left you behind.
Although you can’t be with him right now,
He lives on in your heart and mind.

The day will come when you’ll meet again
On Heaven’s distant shore,
And the two of you will walk hand in hand
Together forever more.

Author unknown

May You Always Remember

May you see God’s light on the path ahead
When the road you walk is dark.
May you always hear,
Even in your hour of sorrow,
The gentle singing of the lark.
When times are hard may hardness
Never turn your heart to stone,
May you always remember
when the shadows fall—
You do not walk alone.

Traditional Irish Blessing

To Those I Love

Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh
And talk of me as if I were beside you. I loved
You so—‘twas heaven here with you.

Isla Paschal Richardson

Sympathy Poems for Loss of a Wife

Similar to the loss of a husband, the loss of a wife leaves the widower feeling isolated and alone. Without support, grief can be unbearable. Support your loved one with thoughtful messages and time spent together. The best thing you can do is spend time investing in them, letting them know they are still loved.

The Life That I Have

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

Leo Marks

She Is Gone (He Is Gone)

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived

You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love that 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 she is 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 she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

David Harkins

Untitled

There’s a very special garden
Where the trees of memory grow
Nurtured by the kindness
And concern that good friends show.
The roots are cherished memories Of good times in the past.
The branches tender promises that souls endure and last.
It’s a place of peace and beauty
Where bright new hopes can start
It’s memory’s lovely garden that soothes the hurting heart

Author unknown

Finding the words to say to someone who is grieving can be difficult. It can seem like nothing you say will help the pain that person is feeling. When words fail you, try sending a sympathy poem with a gift basket to brighten their day and make them feel loved and cherished during this difficult time.