Funeral reading
No Coward Soul Is Mine
Emily Brontë
“No Coward Soul Is Mine” by Emily Brontë is a poem read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about 55 seconds read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere: I see Heaven's glories shine, And faith shines equal, arming me from fear. O God within my breast, Almighty, ever-present Deity! Life — that in me has rest, As I — undying Life — have power in Thee! Though earth and man were gone, And suns and universes ceased to be, And Thou were left alone, Every existence would exist in Thee. There is not room for Death, Nor atom that his might could render void: Thou — Thou art Being and Breath, And what Thou art may never be destroyed.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
Believing but unchurched. Good for someone who had faith but no congregation.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: fearless · faith without a church · a strong-minded woman · no room for death.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “No Coward Soul Is Mine” take to read aloud?
“No Coward Soul Is Mine” takes about 55 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “No Coward Soul Is Mine”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “No Coward Soul Is Mine” runs about 55 seconds, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “No Coward Soul Is Mine” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.