“Death is Nothing at All,” the timeless poem written by Henry Scott Holland, continues to reassure whoever is left behind after the passing of loved ones. Born on January 27, 1847, in Ledbury, England, and died on the 17th March 1918. Holland was a colossal theologian, a canon at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and eventually Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford.
His most well-known work is “Death Is Nothing At All,” which came out of his sermon, in 1910, called Death the King of Terrors at a time when King Edward VII lay in state. This piece articulates Holland’s strong belief in the persistence of love and life after death.
The few yet profound words of the poem reassure the grieving that death is but a passing into the next room. Holland then likens death to moving into another room where the dead remain with the living in daily life. He calls on those still breathing to retain remembrances of loved ones with laughter, prayer, and familiarity-not sorrow and darkness.
The haunting lines, “Life means all that it ever meant.”. It is the same as it ever is,” provide some sort of comfort, some form of eternal relation, reminding mourners that through love, bonds are never broken by physical absence.
This work has found a ready welcome and is read worldwide at funerals. It has been described as timeless because it conveys a universal message of hope, consequently, this makes this poem a common use during memorial services and in remembrance ceremonies.
The poem has been read at high-profile funerals and been adopted by prominent individuals, its usage included readings during moments of national mourning in England.
Death is Nothing at All
Hollands words continue to ring out as a clarion call of peace amidst the pain of parting. “Death Is Nothing At All” typifies his theological perspective in that he married Christian spirituality with a humanistic approach to bereavement and continuity.
Its message stands to this day, spanning the gulf that separates life from death with the certainty that all shall be as it was before-the surety of love surviving even the event of death.
“Death is Nothing at All” by Henry Scott Holland
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!
For more poem inspiration visit the Save Funeral Costs blog of funeral poems.
