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.
Where it comes from
No Coward Soul Is Mine was the last poem Emily Brontë copied into her fair-copy notebook, though Charlotte’s later claim that it was Emily’s final poem is inaccurate. At Emily Dickinson’s funeral in 1886, Thomas Wentworth Higginson read this poem, which had been a favorite of Dickinson’s.
What it says
The speaker declares that their soul is not a coward and does not tremble in a stormy world, because faith shines out and protects them from fear. God lives within the speaker’s own breast, and that life within cannot end. Even if the earth, humanity and the whole universe vanished, everything would still exist in God. So there is no room left for Death: what God is can never be destroyed. It is a statement of fearless, personal faith with no church, creed or minister anywhere in it.
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.
Who it suits
A strong-minded person, often a woman, whose faith was private and fierce rather than churchgoing. It suits families who want courage rather than tears, and services where the person would have hated anything timid. It works at both Christian and non-church services, though its faith in God is plain. It is not right for a family who do not believe, since every stanza is addressed to God.
Where it goes in the ceremony
Near the end of the service, after the eulogy, as a strong note before the committal. A daughter, a sister or a friend with a firm voice reads it well.
Reading it aloud
The text on this page is 101 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about 45 seconds of reading.
- Start strong. “No coward soul is mine” is a declaration; say it as one.
- The second stanza is addressed to God within. Lower your voice slightly, as if turning inward.
- The dashes in “Life — that in me has rest” and “Thou — Thou art Being and Breath” are short pauses. Do not skip them, but do not stretch them either.
- Finish on “may never be destroyed” with complete steadiness, then pause before you leave the lectern.
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.
Other readings that suit the same service
- Invictus55 secondsThe same courage, with no faith required
- Because I could not stop for Deatha minute and a halfDickinson, whose funeral this poem was read at
- Romans 8:31–35, 37–39a minute and a halfNothing can separate us, in scripture
- Remember55 secondsChristina Rossetti
- Requiem30 secondsRobert Louis Stevenson
- Crossing the Bar55 secondsAlfred, Lord Tennyson