Readings for a Burial at Sea: Poems and Passages That Suit the Water

Many families want a few words read aloud before the release, but not everyone wants to write something new. Older poems and scripture can carry the moment for you. The pieces below are in the public domain, they speak to the sea, and each can be read in a minute or two.

Poems

• "Crossing the Bar," Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1889). Written late in his life, it pictures death as a ship putting out past the harbor bar. Its last lines: "I hope to see my Pilot face to face / When I have crost the bar."
• "Sea-Fever," John Masefield (1902). A poem for anyone who loved boats and open water. It closes: "And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over." A "trick" is a sailor's turn at the wheel.
• "Remember," Christina Rossetti (published 1862). A sonnet that gives the living permission to go on: "Better by far you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad."

Scripture

• Psalm 107:23-30. Long associated with sailors. In the King James Version it begins "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters" and ends "so he bringeth them unto their desired haven."
• Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die." It suits families of any faith or none.

A Note on "Gone From My Sight"

This prose piece begins "I am standing upon the seashore" and is often read at sea. It is usually credited to Henry Van Dyke, but its authorship is disputed. Early printings credit the Rev. Luther F. Beecher, and some copies list it as anonymous. If you print it in a program, "attributed to" is the honest way to put it.

Reading Aloud Offshore

• Print the text in a large font. A clear plastic sleeve keeps spray off the page.
• Stand with your back to the wind so your voice carries toward the family, not away from them.
• Read more slowly than feels natural. Pause at line ends.
• Choose one reader for each piece, and give a second person a copy in case the first cannot finish.
• Two or three readings are usually plenty. Shorter often lands better on the water.

For writing your own words, see preparing remarks for a burial at sea. For help shaping the order of the ceremony, see when to bring an officiant. Whatever you choose to read, the sea will give it room.

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