This revised third edition of our much-loved anthology contains poems of bereavement selected for their beauty and the sense of consolation that they offer. There are poems that question and mourn, alongside others that accept the inevitability of death and give thanks for a life well lived.

Poems old and new reflect on the transforming experience of losing someone we love. For those arranging a funeral or simply seeking the quiet company of words to help them through the long process of grieving, this varied and reflective selection is sure to offer comfort:

“I lie here in a riot of sunlight
Watching the day break and the clouds flying.
Everything is going to be all right.”

from ‘Everything is Going to Be All Right’ by Derek Mahon

Selected by Di Slaney and Katharine Towers.

Poems by Robert Burns, Emily Dickinson, Sasha Dugdale, Lorna Goodison, Thomas Hardy, Matthew Hollis, Jackie Kay, Faith Lawrence, Derek Mahon, Sue Millard, Adrian Mitchell, Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, Christina Rossetti, William Shakespeare, Penelope Shuttle, Edna St Vincent Millay, Mark Twain, Anna Wigley and Jeremy Young.