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. We do not reprint the words here — the note below says why, and what to bring instead.

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.

Where it comes from

The poem is from The Mersey Sound, the 1967 anthology of the Liverpool poets Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri.

What it says

The speaker refuses a quiet, tidy death in bed with everyone gathered round. Instead he imagines a series of absurd and violent ends at a very old age: run down after an all-night party, caught in a gangland shooting at the barber’s, and killed by a jealous lover in the last and rudest stanza. The joke is that he wants to stay young in spirit until the very end. It is irreverent, energetic and funny, and it is about refusing to fade away.

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.

Who it suits

Someone who stayed young at heart, liked a laugh and had no patience with solemnity, and families who want a funeral that sounds like the person. It suits Liverpool and Merseyside families who know McGough. It is wrong for a peaceful death in old age, for a violent or sudden death where the images would hurt, and for a formal religious service.

Where it goes in the ceremony

After the eulogy, as a lighter moment, or near the end to send people off with a smile. A friend with good timing reads it best. Follow it with something gentler before the committal.

Reading it aloud

Allow about two minutes at a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, from the reader’s first word to their last.

Read it to the family before you offer it, including the last stanza. It is the rudest part, and some families will want it left out.
The humor needs pace. Keep it moving and let the laughs come; do not stop to wait for them.
Drop the grin for the closing line. The poem is funny, but its point, refusing a quiet end, is serious.

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. 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.

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