Funeral Speech In English: The kind of speech delivered on the occasion of a Funeral is known as a Eulogy. It is up to the speaker if they go for a Eulogy, an Elegy or an Eulogy comprising of an Elegy. Funerals are extremely sad and depressing occasions. Genuinely, even considering that one has to give a speech at a Funeral is scary. Since it comes with loads of responsibility, one can not simply speak their heart out. It cannot be very pleasant and triggering. A perfect Funeral Speech has to be one where hope is blended with tribute.
While one has to celebrate and commemorate the person who has just passed away, one must also pay attention to those grieving and provide them with unmatchable hope and relief. Eulogies must be loaded with condolences, a tinge of sadness, and hope for the future.
Here in the subsequent article, there is an extensive guide to speeches that you can deliver at Funerals, quotes to add to the speech, elegies to attach with it, and an exemplary speech. Read thoroughly and get a simplified analysis of how your speech should sound and what you need to portray while delivering one.
Funeral Speech In English
Delivering a speech at a funeral can be complicated. One might be dubitable about what they could speak and how to do so. This problem can be solved very easily if you follow the correct format of the speech. It is important to understand why you have to deliver the speech, and what might the listeners wish to hear in the moment of sadness.
Speaker needs to comprehend the environment’s mood and understand the hour’s necessity. Accordingly, the speech needs to be delivered. The English Language offers a perfect format to write a eulogy.
It will be very convenient for the speaker if they stick to the particular format and prepare the draft accordingly. Adding quotes, elegies, sayings, and such literary texts would make the speech much more emotional as it will add the required emotional connection and quotient.
Funeral Speech In English: Points to Understand
The following points must be very profoundly observed while preparing a Eulogy or Funeral Speech In English:
- The Speaker must make sure that the speech is not too long as the occasion is dominated by sadness, and excessive speaking or listening might not be what someone would want at a funeral.
- Funeral Speech In English must be in a simplified language and has to be genuine.
- Use words that are extremely decent and avoid anything offensive.
- Discuss the life and contribution of the person who has recently passed away.
- Speak about the changes and the sadness that followed post the departure of the deceased.
- End the speech with positivity, a ray of hope, and how the audience can cope with the unending pain and sadness.
Quotes to add in a Eulogy
Quotes can be a very good option. If you are willing to give your speech some literary fluence or maybe make them poetic, you can choose to put quotes into it. It will help make the speech much more interesting and bind the listeners. They shall also feel hopeful when they hear something that has been established as a saying. The following quotes have been famously mentioned by various personalities about death and grief. You can choose the one that suits your speech and add them to it, accordingly:
- Death ends a life, not a relationship. ~ Mitch Albom
- Death inevitably comes to each of us. Whether it is a time of inner dignity and honour or a pitiful demise is completely reliant on how we live our lives right now, today. In that sense, the “moment of death” truly exists in the present.
- It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things. ~ Lemony Snicket
- Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings. ~ Anais Nin
- The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way. ~ Psalm 37:23
- Grief fills the room up of my absent child, Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, Remembers me of all his gracious parts, Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form. ~ William Shakespeare
- It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it’s called Life. ~ Terry Pratchett
- When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time—the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes—when there’s a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she’s gone, forever—there comes another day, and another specifically missing part. ~ John Irving
- Only a person who has lived totally can die gracefully. ~ Sadhguru
- Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything. ~ C.S. Lewis
Elegy to add to your Eulogy
Elegy is a poem that celebrates or reminisces about someone who has died. It is particularly very dark in nature. It creates an environment of sadness and it is also very articulative for anyone who is grieving from the pain of a dead friend or relative. It is sometimes difficult to give words to your feelings. Instead, in such moments of sadness, one might prefer to simply depend on elegies in order to complete their Funeral Speech.
Eulogy can occupy a part of your speech or may entirely dominate it. It is up to the speaker. Some people are very active in terms of literature and have a flair for writing poems. They can freely add their original poetry to the speech.
However, there are some who cannot compose one. Thus, here are some very famous Elegies that you can add to your Funeral Speech In English. It will not only reduce the burden of writing while being emotionally triggered but also will be more relatable and easier to connect with.
- In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred Lord Tennyson
- Dirge Without Music by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman
- When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom by Walt Whitman
- In Memory of W.B. Yeats by W.H. Auden
- Lycidas by John Milton
- Elegy 5 by Ovid
- Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats by Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray
- Sonnet On the Death of Richard West by Thomas Gray
The Eulogy or a Funeral Speech for a Friend
Good Morning to all present here.
This is a sad occasion even to speak on. I am extremely devastated as the person we all admired collectively and prayed for has left us. _____________ (Name of the deceased) has left for the heavenly abode, and I am very sure that wherever he is right now, he must be in peace. While he has departed and joined the afterlife, we all stand here trying to cope with the void. Honestly, this is very tough. To stop thinking about his very innocent face, arms always longing for humanity, heart always open to love, incredible mind, and most importantly, his sheer simplicity in things that he did. It was his candour that made him the exceptional person he was.
Whenever _________ (Name of the Deceased) and I used to it and have a conversation, I found myself in complete awe of his knowledge. He was always educated on whatever one could think of. Such was his determination to make the world a better place, that he did not stop for a while and always continued to strive for his aim and the community.
To be such a kind of person, you must be an absolute legend at heart and my friend truly was. I don’t understand with whom I will share my profound discussions of sports or call in an hour of need. He was always there to free me. And I would not be bragging if I said he happened to be there for all of us. He has left this world in a much better frame than he received. He made sure that his morals, values, and legacy lived on in us with the influence his generosity imparted to us. I have changed incredibly as a human ever since I was in terms with ________ (Name of the Deceased). Today, we all will not have someone who would love us despite all the deteriorating situations and the world’s enmity. There is a lot that had to be said and a lot that was to be shared, but it all ends here except for the love that we all hold for him. He might be resting peacefully in the clouds where the angels deserve him, but we are all here still reminiscing what we shared and preserving our love for him. You are not dead, my friend. Rather, you are alive in us all.
If I intend to end this speech, I might never be able to do that. There is so much about him and his importance in our lives that cannot be articulated in a few minutes. But, I would probably stop speaking and let all my love for _________ (Name of the Deceased) thrive because I have not lost him, and I never will. Just as Helen Keller said, “What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us” I, too, believe that he is a part of me, and he still lives on!
