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 a minute and a half 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.
What it is about
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.
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 a minute and a half 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 a minute and a half, 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.