We Do Not Die

(I found this on a witch Facebook group. I tweaked the original to make it more personal. The original is posted below.)

We Do Not Die

I do not stand at your grave and weep,

For you are not there; you do not sleep.

You are a thousand winds that blow,

You are the diamond glints on the snow,

You are the sunlight on the ripening grain,

You are the gentle autumn rain,

When I awake in the morning hush,

You are the swift uplifting rush,

Of singing birds in circled flight,

You are the stars that shine at night,

I do not stand at your grave and cry,

You are not there,

You did not die.

 

Poems and other things for Samhain

It’s almost that time of year! Samhain is just around the corner and while most people will be celebrating Hallowe’en with costumes and candy, I will do my Honouring the Dead ritual. For those of you who are looking for symbols and ideas, I did a few blog posts last year on preparing for Samhain.

https://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/preparing-for-samhain-part-one/

https://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/preparing-for-samhain-part-two/

https://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/preparing-for-samhain-pt-three/

https://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/preparing-for-samhain-part-four/

 

Here is my Honouring the Dead ritual:

https://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/samhain-ritual-for-honouring-the-dead/

 

This year I want to add something new to this. I did a Google search and found thirteen spooky poems that you can read for Samhain, or Hallowe’en. Thanks to About.com Pagan/Wicca for the list.

1. The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe

http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html

2. Annabel Lee, Edgar Allen Poe.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174151

3. Tam Lin, (Scottish ballad)

http://www.kitsuneyama.com/Mountain/Bardic/Songs/tamlin.htm

4. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173253

5. Halloween, Robert Burns

http://www.djmcadam.com/halloween.htm

6. Witches Spell from Macbeth, William Shakespeare

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43189/song-of-the-witches-double-double-toil-and-trouble

7. It’s Halloween!, Jack Prelutsky

http://www.thehalloweenday.com/poems/its-halloween.html

8. Ghost House, Robert Frost

http://poetry.about.com/od/poemsbytitleg/l/blfrostghosthouse.htm

9. Darkness, Lord Byron

http://www.strickling.net/byron_darkness.htm

10. A Lament, Percy Bysshe Shelley

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174393

11. Because I Could Not Stop For Death, Emily Dickinson

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177119

12. The Apparition, John Donne,

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173349

13. The Little Ghost, Edna St. Vincent Millay

http://www.online-literature.com/millay/renascence/9/

Are there any poems that bring our images of Hallowe’en for you?