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 in a thousand winds that blow;
I am the softly falling snow.
I
I
I
I
am
am
am
am
the gentle showers of rain;
the fields of ripening grain.
in the morning hush;
in the graceful rush.
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.
Connection
Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep by Mary Frye is my
favorite poem because of the message that it is sending. Even
though someone has died and it is a sad occasion, this poem
gives you hope that your loved one is not truly gone. People
always say that the dead are never really far, but I feel like this
poem puts it in practical terms. When it lists the places such as
the wind and the snow, it is giving specific examples to which
all people can relate. Also, I like that the speaker of the poem
is the person who is gone. It is comforting to hear the person
that you are missing the most tell you that they are not too far
away. Because of the losses that I have experienced in my own
life, I really connect to this poem.
Analysis
Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep by Mary Frye uses
several different poetic devices very effectively. First, the rhyme
scheme, or pattern of rhyming words that come at the end of
each line, is consistent throughout the poem and easy to spot.
In order to show the pattern of rhyming words, letters are
assigned to each end word. If a word rhymes with a previous
word, it is given the same letter and a pattern can emerge. The
rhyme scheme in this poem is A, A, B, B; every two lines rhyme.
For example, the first two lines of the poem are “Do not stand
at my grave and weep/I am not there, I do not sleep.” The
words weep and sleep rhyme and are the last words in each
line, which is rhyme scheme. In addition to the rhyme scheme,
the poem also uses metaphors. A metaphor is the comparison
of two different things without using a word of comparison; a
metaphor compares by saying that one thing is another. The
speaker of the poem is comparing her/himself to many different
things throughout the poem, for example, the line “I am the
softly falling snow.” The speaker is saying that s/he is the falling
snow. Really, what the speaker of the poem is trying to say is
that s/he is all around the people s/he has left behind because a
person’s spirit is in all of the simple joys in life. Finally, the tone,
or author’s feeling related throughout the poem, appears at first
to be sad because of the topic of the poem. However, after
careful reading of the poem, one can see how the author’s tone
is hopeful; the ending of the poem is meant to give hope to the
people left behind. Those three poetic devices in Mary Frye’s
poem, Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep, add to the poem
and its message.