What Poems and Readings Are Used at a Funeral?

Detailed Explanation

A funeral reading is a poem, scripture passage, or piece of prose read aloud during the service, sometimes alongside a eulogy, sometimes in its place. It gives a family a way to say something meaningful without one person having to find their own words, and it's just as legitimate a tribute as a personal speech. (See the Eulogies & Tributes hub for the wider cluster.)

Choosing a secular or non-religious reading

Most well-known funeral poems fall into a few recognisable tones, and it's worth choosing by tone before choosing by title:

• Comfort and continuity. Pieces about the person living on in memory, nature, or the people they loved. This is the most commonly chosen tone for a general audience, since it tends to suit almost any relationship and any age of mourner.
• A direct address to the person. Read as though speaking to them, often used when the reader had a close, personal bond.
• A celebration of a life well-lived. Warmer, sometimes gently humorous pieces that focus on gratitude rather than loss, often chosen for an older person who lived a long, full life.
• Reflective or philosophical. Pieces that sit with grief and mortality more directly, better suited to a smaller, closer gathering than a large formal service.

Rather than reproducing full poems here (copyright on modern works usually rests with the poet's estate, and even older, well-loved pieces are frequently misattributed online, see Common Mistakes below), the more useful approach is to search by tone and length, read several full candidates from a reputable poetry anthology or the publisher's own edition, and choose the one that actually sounds like the person being remembered. A local library, funeral celebrant, or the Australian Poetry archive are all reliable places to find full, correctly attributed texts.

Choosing a religious reading

Faiths with a structured funeral rite generally draw readings from their own scripture rather than outside poetry:

• Christian services commonly use passages such as Psalm 23, Ecclesiastes 3 ("a time for every purpose"), or 1 Corinthians 13. Catholic funerals in particular follow a set lectionary of approved readings for the Requiem Mass. See what happens at a Catholic funeral for how the rite is structured and where a personal reading or eulogy typically sits outside it.
• Jewish mourning doesn't usually include a personal "reading" in the same sense; prayers such as the Mourner's Kaddish carry that role instead. See what happens during Jewish mourning.
• Islamic funerals are built around specific prayers (Salat al-Janazah) rather than readings chosen by the family. See Islamic funeral practices for how the service is structured.

If the family wants to include a favourite secular poem within a religious service, ask the celebrant early. Many faiths are open to it in the eulogy slot or at a separate gathering, but few allow it to replace a scripture reading within the formal rite itself.

Who should read it

The reading can be given by the same person delivering the eulogy, a different family member or friend, or the celebrant if no one in the family feels able to. There's no rule requiring the reader to have written it or to have been especially close to the person: a steady voice matters more than the relationship. If multiple people are speaking, agree beforehand who reads what, the same way multiple eulogists would coordinate. See who should give the eulogy for how families work through that same decision.

Things to Consider

• Confirm before printing it in the order of service. A short reading used once, for a private service, and printed in a small run of programs is standard practice and not something families need to seek permission for. If the plan is to publish the full text more widely afterwards (on a public website, social media, or in a large-circulation printed piece), check the poem's copyright status first; many older poems and hymns (typically once around 70 years have passed since the author's death, though the exact term varies by country) have entered the public domain, but more recent works usually haven't.
• A reading can complement a eulogy rather than replace it. Many services use both: a personal spoken tribute followed by a shorter reading that shifts the tone before the service moves on.
• Match the reading to the person, not just to what sounds nice. A reading chosen because a family member likes it, but that doesn't fit how the person actually lived or what they believed, can feel oddly disconnected on the day.
• Consider the whole room. A reading with religious language may not sit well at a strictly secular service, and vice versa. Check the tone against the wider service, not just personal taste.

Common Mistakes

• Choosing something too long. A reading that runs past three or four minutes starts to lose the room, especially if a eulogy has already been given. Time it out loud beforehand.
• Not checking who actually wrote it. Several of the internet's most-shared funeral poems are commonly misattributed (reproduced under the wrong author's name, or with lines altered from the original) after years of being copied between blogs and social media without checking the source. Trace a poem back to a published collection or a reputable literary source before printing it, both out of respect for the actual author and to avoid an awkward correction later.
• Assuming a religious service allows any reading. Some rites reserve the formal service for scripture only; confirm with the celebrant well before the day rather than finding out on the morning of the funeral.
• Picking a tone that doesn't match the family's mood. A defiant or bleak poem can land powerfully for the right family and wrong for another. Read it to at least one other person before committing, the same way a eulogy draft benefits from a second opinion.