Remembering The Fallen On Memorial Day
The following poem was written by Mary Frye in 1932. It had no title originally so the first line has become used.
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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
~Mary Frye (1932)~
My source of Mary Frye's famous inspirational poem is here. This public domain verse is presented in various versions with the following history.
Let me also thank all you men and women that have served in harms way keeping my freedoms sure, and my rights secure.
Even freedoms such as this shameful editorial in a Madison Wisconsin newspaper that in the midst of praise for vetrans can't help but get a dig in, esentially calling our present soldiers job a "fool's mission."
May God bless and keep America free and safe.
Update: Dean Esmay has a moving Memorial Day tribute.
DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP
Do not stand at my grave and weepI 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 circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
~Mary Frye (1932)~
My source of Mary Frye's famous inspirational poem is here. This public domain verse is presented in various versions with the following history.
Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905-2004) was a housewife from Baltimore USA, when a visiting friend's mother died, and this prompted Mary Frye to compose the verse, which she said was her first real attempt to write poetry. The friend was a young German Jewish girl called Margaret Schwarzkopf, who felt unable to visit her dying mother in Germany due to the anti-Semitic feeling at home. This led to Margaret Scwarzkopf's comment to Mary Frye, according to the apparent history of this, that she had been denied the chance to 'stand by her mother's grave and shed a tear'. This seemingly was the inspirational prompt for Mary Fry to write the verse, which has for decades now touched and comforted many thousands of people, especially at times of loss and bereavement.
Let me also thank all you men and women that have served in harms way keeping my freedoms sure, and my rights secure.
Even freedoms such as this shameful editorial in a Madison Wisconsin newspaper that in the midst of praise for vetrans can't help but get a dig in, esentially calling our present soldiers job a "fool's mission."
The wisdom of wars can be debated on any day, and this newspaper has certainly not hesitated to question the case for the current war in Iraq.
But on Memorial Day, we pause from the debate to remember those whose lives have been lost, not merely to the fool's mission of the contemporary moment but to all the battles noble and ignoble that have claimed the sons and daughters of this and every land.
But on Memorial Day, we pause from the debate to remember those whose lives have been lost, not merely to the fool's mission of the contemporary moment but to all the battles noble and ignoble that have claimed the sons and daughters of this and every land.
"Greater love has no one than this,
than to lay down his life for his friends."
~John 15:13~
than to lay down his life for his friends."
~John 15:13~
May God bless and keep America free and safe.
Update: Dean Esmay has a moving Memorial Day tribute.
What a great tribute to the near 2,800 people who died in the attacks of September 11 2001. To the left is the USS New York as it is being built. More pictures including the one below this post at 