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‘Do not Stand at my Grave
and Weep’ was left in an envelope for his parents by Steven Cummins, a
soldier killed on active service in Northern Ireland, to be opened in the
event of his death. It provoked an extraordinary response.
The requests for copies started coming in almost immediately and over following
weeks the demand rose to a total of thirty thousand. It was thought
at first that the soldier himself had written it, but this not the case.
Claims were made for nineteenth century magazines and the prayers of Navaho
Indian priests, but in the end its origins remain a mystery.
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 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.
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