Student #1510060
Poetry Recitation Template
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
by Mary Frye
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 glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
February 16, 2016
Student #1510060
5
10
Poetry Recitation Template
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
by Mary Frye
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 glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
February 16, 2016
Alliteration
Antithesis
Rhyme
Refrain
Imagery
Metaphor
Rhyme scheme
(a)
(a)
(b)
(b)
(c)
(c)
(d)
(d)
(e)
(e)
(f)
(f)
Relived in Grief
It is said that Mary Frye’s lyric poem “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep” was written for a German
Jewish girl whose mother deceased. Yet, because of the ever-growing anti-Semitism feelings, the girl was
warned to stay from Germany. As a result, she could not visit her mother’s tomb. Rather than directly
advising the girl not to go home, Frye used a beautiful and fairy-tale-like poem to persuade her to stay. In
her poem, the narrator speaks in the girl’s mother’s tone and depicted herself as many marvelous natural
sceneries. (3-6, 8-9) It certainly provided more reasons for the girl to linger at where she was and enjoy the
beauties of nature right then instead of risking her life to home. Two sets of refrains are made in order to
emphasize that the mother was not in the tomb, but everywhere else. The poem as a whole established a
deceptive illusion that was both effective and easy for a girl to understand. Thereafter, this poem started to
be widely read in funeral obituaries. The immortality of the poem was contributed by the poet’s pure and
genuine intent and the soothing imageries illustrated throughout the poem. After the reading, it is likely
that people are relieved in grief.