Funeral reading
Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?
Thomas Hardy
“Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” by Thomas Hardy is a poem read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about two minutes 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
"Ah, are you digging on my grave My loved one? — planting rue?" — "No: yesterday he went to wed One of the brightest wealth has bred. 'It cannot hurt her now,' he said, 'That I should not be true.'" "Then who is digging on my grave? My nearest dearest kin?" — "Ah, no; they sit and think, 'What use! What good will planting flowers produce? No tendance of her mound can loose Her spirit from Death's gin.'" "But some one digs upon my grave? My enemy? — prodding sly?" — "Nay: when she heard you had passed the Gate That shuts on all flesh soon or late, She thought you no more worth her hate, And cares not where you lie." "Then, who is digging on my grave? Say — since I have not guessed!" — "O it is I, my mistress dear, Your little dog, who still lives near, And much I hope my movements here Have not disturbed your rest?" "Ah, yes! You dig upon my grave … Why flashed it not on me That one true heart was left behind! What feeling do we ever find To equal among human kind A dog's fidelity!" "Mistress, I dug upon your grave To bury a bone, in case I should be hungry near this spot When passing on my daily trot. I am sorry, but I quite forgot It was your resting-place."
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
Where it comes from
Thomas Hardy published the poem in his 1914 collection Satires of Circumstance. It appears under its own title in the contents of the Project Gutenberg edition of the collection.
What it says
A dead woman hears someone digging on her grave and guesses who it is. Her lover? No, he has just married a rich woman and decided it cannot hurt her now. Her family? No, they think flowers on a grave are pointless. Her enemy? No, the enemy no longer thinks her worth hating. It is her little dog, and she is moved: nothing in humankind equals a dog’s loyalty. Then the dog apologizes. It was only burying a bone, and had quite forgotten this was her grave.
Gets funnier and colder until the punchline, which is that nobody remembers her. A personality match for a wicked, self-deprecating sense of humour — not a crowd-pleaser. Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: ah are you digging on my grave · a dog who quite forgot · dark humour about being forgotten · a dog lover · wicked and self-deprecating · a personality match rather than a crowd-pleaser · the joke stings · six short stanzas.
Who it suits
Someone with a wicked, self-deprecating sense of humor, who would have laughed at the idea of being forgotten. It suits dog lovers and families who share a dry, dark wit. It is a personality match, not a crowd-pleaser: the joke stings, and it is wrong for a young death, a death that leaves a bereaved partner in the front row, or any family that might hear it as mockery.
Where it goes in the ceremony
At a celebration of life or a wake, or in the middle of a service as a deliberate change of mood, after the eulogy has made clear the person laughed at themselves. A reader who can do deadpan should take it; two readers, one for the dead woman and one for the answers, can work well.
Reading it aloud
The text on this page is 227 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about two minutes of reading.
- It is a dialogue. Mark the two voices on your copy: the dead woman’s questions and the replies from above.
- Do not signal that it is funny. The dog’s answer is funnier if the stanza before it is read with complete sincerity.
- Pause before the final stanza, and read the dog’s apology in a small, matter-of-fact voice.
- If you are unsure the family understand the ending, read it to them first; better to find out before the service.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” take to read aloud?
“Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” takes about two minutes 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 “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” runs about two minutes, 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 “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” 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
- The Cremation of Sam McGee7 minutesA longer comic ballad with a final twist
- My Own Epitaph10 secondsA two-line joke about death, written by the man himself
- Remember55 secondsThe tender version of the same thought about being forgotten
- Requiem30 secondsRobert Louis Stevenson
- Crossing the Bar55 secondsAlfred, Lord Tennyson
- Invictus55 secondsWilliam Ernest Henley