"Death Is Nothing At All" a beautiful poem that teaches us how to overcome the loss of a loved one
"Death Is Nothing At All" is the best-known and probably the most beautiful poem written by Henry Scott Holland, a British priest, theologian, and writer who was active especially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
What we find written in these verses is probably what anyone would wish for their loved ones. Even if it is difficult, one must continue with one's own life, remembering with joy and a smile, the person who has passed away.
Although written in 1910, these verses are still a kind of guide to overcoming the loss of a loved one.
Death is nothing at all.
It does not count.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
Nothing has happened.
Everything remains exactly as it was.
I am I, and you are you,
and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by the old familiar name.
Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolute and unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible incident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
All of us have gone through the experience of losing someone we love, at least once. We hope that this poem will help all of us to overcome those difficult moments ...
