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 "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep"  was written in 1932 by Mary Elizabeth Frye. It is an elegy, which is 'a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for death'. This poem was never published or copyrighted by Frye because she wanted it to be free for everyone.

The Text
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 sun 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 circling flight. I am the soft starshine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry: I am not there; I did not die.

• Form
This elegy is written in elegiac couplets, meaning that it is made up of a pairs of sequential lines. The rhyming scheme follows an AABBCCDDEEFF pattern.

The typical meter of an elegiac couplet can be represented as;

¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ x¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯

• Language
The poem is written in a recognisable form of English, which could be considered modern English, as language has not changed significantly since the 1930's.

The imagery used is not difficult to envision; the description of  "diamond glints on snow...the gentle Autumn rain"  for example, is simple and easy to understand. It's a representation of everyday life, not just for the time it was written. The imagery is relatable to the past, present, and future because of it's links to nature. It is because of these images that the poem is familiar to its readers, because there has always been the sun, the wind, the rain, and the birds. Nature is unchangeable.

The poem is best read out loud. It is comprised of soft consonant sounds, such as "morning's hush" and "soft starshine", which makes it easy on the ear and compliments it's comforting message.

• Religious Connections
This poem is a popular reading for funerals, as can be expected considering its content and its form.

It has also been called  "I Am"  because of it's repetition throughout, and is considered a biblical poem because of this, which relates to becoming at one with the earth and living on through nature.

It is open to interpretation depending on one's religion. The poem could refer to the soul leaving the body or being reborn, or of the actual body decomposing and becoming at one with the earth.

• Personal Life
Mary Elizabeth Frye was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1905. The names of her parents are currently unknown as she was orphaned at the age of three, and then at the aged of twelve she moved to Baltimore, Maryland. In 1927 she married the owner of a clothing business, Claud Frye, and became a florist. She wrote the poem in 1932, five years after her marriage to Claud, after a conversation with a young German Jewish woman named Margaret Schwarzkopf.

She passed away in 2004.

• Poetry
There are various stories surrounding Frye's inspiration for this poem. Some say she wrote the poem for a young Jewish girl who was weeping because she could not travel to Germany to visit her mother's grave, whilst others say Frye wrote it for a family friend who had just lost her mother and was also unable to visit the grave. Both stories agree Frye initially wrote the poem on a torn-off scrap of a brown paper bag.

To begin with the poem's authorship was not recognised, with some connecting it to Native American sources, however in 1998 Abigail Van Buren, a newspaper columnist, conducted an investigation and Frye's validated as the true author.

Despite the absence of authorship, in 1996 "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" was names Britain's most popular poem. It was not one of the critics' nominations but more than 30,000 people voted for it to win, surpassing many educated and prestigious writers.

Uses Today
The poem is popular today for funerals and memorial services, as despite the obvious content it sheds a positive light on losing a loved one. It encourages family and friends to look with happiness on the times they had shared and to "not stand at my grave and weep".