Funeral reading
Gone From My Sight — the ship
Attributed to Luther F. Beecher; widely printed as Henry Van Dyke
“Gone From My Sight — the ship” by Attributed to Luther F. Beecher; widely printed as Henry Van Dyke is a prose reading read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about a minute and a half read aloud, usually by the officiant. 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
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze, and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to meet and mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: "There! She's gone!" Gone where? Gone from my sight — that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of her destination. Her diminished size is in me and not in her. And just at that moment when someone at my side says: "There! She's gone!" there are other eyes that are watching for her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "Here she comes!"
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
The ship one, used constantly in hospice work. Reads well in a plain voice.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: a ship sailing over the horizon · gone from my sight is not gone · short · a sailor · hospice · a gentle death.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Gone From My Sight — the ship” take to read aloud?
“Gone From My Sight — the ship” 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 “Gone From My Sight — the ship”?
Usually the officiant rather than a guest reader. “Gone From My Sight — the ship” runs about a minute and a half, 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 “Gone From My Sight — the ship” 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
Wording confirmed through a reputable secondary source that reproduces someone else’s transcription. Due a check against a primary edition.
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
- No Man Is an Island (Meditation XVII)35 secondsJohn Donne
- Death Is Nothing At Alla minute and a halfHenry Scott Holland
- On Death, from The Prophet50 secondsKahlil Gibran
- The Body of B. Franklin, Printer — his own mock epitaph25 secondsBenjamin Franklin
- Remember55 secondsChristina Rossetti
- There Will Be Rest25 secondsSara Teasdale