Poems & Readings for Scattering or Burial of Ashes
As John Galsworthy wrote:
Scatter my ashes!
Let them be free to the air,
Soaked in the sunlight and rain,
Scatter with never a care
Whether you find them again.
Let them be grey in the dawn,
Bright if the noontime be bright,
And when night’s curtain is drawn
Starry and dark with the night.
Let the birds find them and take
Lime for their nests, and the beast
Nibbling the grizzled grass, make
Merry with salt to his feast.
Scatter my ashes!
Hereby I make it a trust;
I in no grave be confined,
Mingle my dust with the dust,
Give me in fee to the wind!
Please – scatter my ashes!
Final verse of Ewan McColl’s ‘Joy of Living’
Take me to some high place of heather, rock and ling
Scatter my dust and ashes, feed me to the wind
So that I may be part of all you see, the air you are breathing
I'll be part of the curlew's cry and the soaring hawk,
The blue milkwort and the sundew hung with diamonds
I'll be riding the gentle breeze as it blows through your hair
Reminding you how we shared in the joy of living
‘Scatter my ashes’, John Galsworthy
Scatter my ashes!
Let them be free to the air,
Soaked in the sunlight and rain,
Scatter with never a care
Whether you find them again.
Let them be grey in the dawn,
Bright if the noontime be bright,
And when night’s curtain is drawn
Starry and dark with the night.
Let the birds find them and take
Lime for their nests, and the beast
Nibbling the grizzled grass, make
Merry with salt to his feast.
Scatter my ashes!
Hereby I make it a trust;
I in no grave be confined,
Mingle my dust with the dust,
Give me in fee to the wind!
Please – scatter my ashes!
Adapted from a poem by Ruth Burgess
Into the warmth of the earth
We lay you down
Into the sadness and smiles of our memories
We lay you down
Into the cycle of living and dying
We lay you down
Into the freedom of the wind and sunshine
We let you go
Into the dance of the stars and the planets
We let you go
Into the wind’s breath and in to the star lit sky
We let you go
We love you, we miss you
We let you go.
‘We Heard your Voice in the Wind Today’, author unknown
We heard your voice in the wind today
and we turned to see your face;
The warmth of the wind caressed us
as we stood silently in place.
We felt your touch in the sun today
as its warmth filled the sky;
we closed our eyes for your embrace
and our spirits soared high.
As long as the sun shines…
the wind blows…
the rain falls…
You will live on in our hearts forever.
for that is all our hearts know.
‘As We Look Back’, Clare Jones
As we look back over time
We find ourselves wondering
Did we remember to thank you enough
For all you have done for us?
For all the times you were by our sides
To help and support us
To celebrate our successes
To understand our problems
And accept our defeats?
Or for teaching us by your example,
The value of hard work, good judgement,
Courage and integrity?
We wonder if we ever thanked you
For the sacrifices you made.
To let us have the very best?
And for the simple things
Like laughter, smiles and times we shared?
If we have forgotten to show our
Gratitude enough for all the things you did,
We’re thanking you now.
And we are hoping you knew all along,
How much you meant to us.
‘Farewell Sweet Dust’, Elinor Wylie
Now I have lost you, I must scatter
All of you on the air henceforth;
Not that to me it can ever matter
But it’s only fair on the rest of earth.
Now especially, when it’s winter
And the sun’s not half as bright as he was,
Who wouldn’t be glad to find a splinter
That once was you, in the frozen grass?
Snowflakes, too, will be softer feathered
Clouds, perhaps, will be whiter plumed;
Rain, whose brilliance you caught and gathered,
Purer silver have resumed.
Farewell, sweet dust; I never was a miser:
Once, for a minute, I made you mine;
Now you are gone, I am none the wiser
But the leaves of the willow are as bright as wine.
‘The Scattering’ by Penelope Shuttle
I cast you into the waters.
Be lake, or random moon.
Be first light,
lifting up its beggar’s cup.
I scatter your ashes.
Be the gale teaching autumn
to mend its ways,
or leopard so proud of his spotted coat.
Be the mentor of cherry trees.
I cast your dust far and wide,
a sower broadcasting seed:
Be wild rose or hellebore or all-heal.
Descend as a vein of silver,
never to be seen,
deep in the lynx-eyed earth.
Rise as barn owl white as dusk;
dove or raven marvelling at his flight.
Know different delights.