Funeral reading
Let Me Die a Youngman's Death
Roger McGough
“Let Me Die a Youngman's Death” by Roger McGough is a poem read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about two minutes read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is still in copyright, so the words are not reprinted here — the reader brings a printed copy.
Why the words are not printed here
Still in copyright and McGough is living — it is from The Mersey Sound (1967). Print it from a licensed edition. It imagines several deaths, all of them ridiculous and none of them peaceful, so read it before you offer it.
Pieces still in copyright are listed by title and author only — we name them and tell you where to get them, but we do not reproduce the words. Public-domain text is printed in your script in full.
What it is about
Rude, energetic, and against dying quietly. Wrong for a peaceful death in old age.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: let me die a youngman's death · not a clean and in-between-the-sheets death · refusing a quiet ending · someone who stayed young · irreverent and a little rude · a sudden death.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Let Me Die a Youngman's Death” take to read aloud?
“Let Me Die a Youngman's Death” 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 “Let Me Die a Youngman's Death”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Let Me Die a Youngman's Death” 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 “Let Me Die a Youngman's Death” be printed in a ceremony script?
Not by us. It is still in copyright, so we name it and point you at a copy rather than reprinting the words. Still in copyright and McGough is living — it is from The Mersey Sound (1967). Print it from a licensed edition. It imagines several deaths, all of them ridiculous and none of them peaceful, so read it before you offer it.
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.