Funeral reading

There Will Be Rest

Sara Teasdale

“There Will Be Rest” by Sara Teasdale is a poem read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about 25 seconds read aloud, usually by the officiant. We do not reprint the words here — the note below says why, and what to bring instead.

Why the words are not printed here

Later than the rest of her work — it was published after she died, in 1933, so unlike her earlier poems it is very likely still in copyright and we do not reprint it. It is eight lines; print it from any Teasdale collection and have the reader bring it up with them.

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

Sara Teasdale, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1918 for Love Songs, died in January 1933, and her last collection, Strange Victory, appeared that same year.

What it says

A short, very quiet lyric that looks ahead to a time beyond trouble. The speaker imagines a rest that will come for certain, a stillness under the stars, and speaks of it with longing rather than fear. It does not argue, promise an afterlife or name God; it simply sets down a picture of peace after a hard road. Because the poem is still in copyright, its words are not reprinted here, and the reader brings a printed copy from a Teasdale collection.

Very quiet and very short. Bring a printed copy — the words are not in your script. Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: peace · rest · stars · quiet · short · a private person · a small service.

Who it suits

A small, private service, and a person who was quiet, inward or tired at the end of a long illness. It suits families who are not religious but want something gentle and still, and outdoor or evening gatherings where the stars are a real presence. Teasdale herself died by suicide; if the death you are marking was a suicide, some people in the room may know that, which can make the poem feel either apt or too close, so ask the family.

Where it goes in the ceremony

Late in the service, just before a time of silence or the committal, where a hush is wanted. The officiant or one family member reads it. It takes under half a minute.

Reading it aloud

Allow about 25 seconds at a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, from the reader’s first word to their last.

Print the poem on a separate card, in a large typeface, from a published Teasdale collection; it will not be in your script.
Read it at half your normal speed. Eight lines read slowly still take less than a minute.
Do not introduce it at length. Say the title and the poet, pause, and begin.
Let silence follow it for a few seconds before you speak again.

Questions about reading it aloud

How long does “There Will Be Rest” take to read aloud?

“There Will Be Rest” takes about 25 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 “There Will Be Rest”?

Usually the officiant rather than a guest reader. “There Will Be Rest” runs about 25 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 “There Will Be Rest” be printed in a ceremony script?

Not by us. Later than the rest of her work — it was published after she died, in 1933, so unlike her earlier poems it is very likely still in copyright and we do not reprint it. It is eight lines; print it from any Teasdale collection and have the reader bring it up with them.

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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