Funeral reading
My Own Epitaph
John Gay
“My Own Epitaph” by John Gay is a poem read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about 10 seconds read aloud, usually by the officiant. 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
Life is a jest; and all things show it, I thought so once; but now I know it.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
Ten seconds, and he wrote it about himself. A line to close on, not a piece to build a service around.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: life is a jest and all things show it · a two-line epitaph · Westminster Abbey and Poets’ Corner · someone who never took themselves seriously · a closing line rather than a reading · the shortest thing on the shelf.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “My Own Epitaph” take to read aloud?
“My Own Epitaph” takes about 10 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 “My Own Epitaph”?
Usually the officiant rather than a guest reader. “My Own Epitaph” runs about 10 seconds, which sits inside the part of the service the officiant is already leading, and keeping it there means it is carried by the person who has rehearsed it.
Can “My Own Epitaph” 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.