5 Emotional Poems for a Dad’s Funeral

Cremation of Southern Maine • October 24, 2022

The right poem during a memorial service after your father’s cremation is a powerful way to pay tribute to his legacy. Here are some examples to inspire you.

cremation service in Portland ME

Poetry is a soulful way to pay tribute to your father and is appropriate for any funeral service. It could be a traditional service, memorial service, or celebration of life. Whatever way you choose to honor your father’s memory after a cremation service in Portland, ME


Below, we share some of our favorite poems for a dad. 


As We Look Back – Unknown Author 


As we look back over time 

We find ourselves wondering ….. 

Did we remember to thank you enough 

For all you have done for us? 

For all the times you were by our sides 

To help and support us ….. 

To celebrate our successes 

To understand our problems 

And accept our defeats? 

Or for teaching us by your example, 

The value of hard work, good judgment, 

Courage and integrity? 

We wonder if we ever thanked you 

For the sacrifices you made. 

To let us have the very best? 

And for the simple things 

Like laughter, smiles and times we shared? 

If we have forgotten to show our 

Gratitude enough for all the things you did, 

We’re thanking you now. 

And we are hoping you knew all along, 

How much you meant to us. 


If Tears Could Build a Stairway – Unknown Author 


If tears could build a stairway, 

and memories a lane. 

I would walk right up to Heaven 

and bring you back again. 

 

No farewell words were spoken, 

No time to say “Goodbye”. 

You were gone before I knew it, 

and only God knows why. 

 

My heart still aches with sadness, 

and secret tears still flow. 

What it meant to love you – 

No one can ever know. 

 

But now I know you want me 

to mourn for you no more; 

To remember all the happy times 

life still has much in store. 


Since you’ll never be forgotten, 

I pledge to you today 

A hollowed place within my heart 

is where you’ll always stay. 

 

To My Father – Georgia Harkness 


A giant pine, magnificent and old 

Stood staunch against the sky and all around 

Shed beauty, grace and power. 

Within its fold birds safely reared their young. 

The velvet ground beneath was gentle, 

and the cooling shade gave cheer to passers by. 

Its towering arms a landmark stood, erect and unafraid, 

As if to say, “Fear naught from life’s alarms”. 

 

It fell one day. 

Where it had dauntless stood was loneliness and void. 

But men who passed paid tribute – and said, 

“To know this life was good, 

It left it’s mark on me. Its work stands fast”. 

And so it lives. Such life no bonds can hold – 

This giant pine, magnificent and old. 


His Journey’s Just Begun – Elle Brenneman 


Don’t think of him as gone away 

his journey’s just begun, 

life holds so many facets 

this earth is only one. 

Just think of him as resting 

from the sorrows and the tears 

in a place of warmth and comfort 

where there are no days and years. 

 

Think how he must be wishing 

that we could know today 

how nothing but our sadness 

can really pass away. 

And think of him as living 

in the hearts of those he touched… 

for nothing loved is ever lost 

and he was loved so much. 


Father – Ella Wheeler Wilcox 


He never made a fortune, or a noise 

In the world where men are seeking after fame; 

But he had a healthy brood of girls and boys 

Who loved the very ground on which he trod. 

They thought him just little short of God; 

Oh you should have heard the way they said his name – 

‘Father.’ 

 

There seemed to be a loving little prayer 

In their voices, even when they called him ‘Dad.’ 

Though the man was never heard of anywhere, 

As a hero, yet somehow understood 

He was doing well his part and making good; 

And you knew it, by the way his children had 

Of saying ‘Father…’ 


Feel free to make edits as it applies to your dad. And if the poems have inspired you to write your own, that’s great. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a poet; your words only need to come from the heart. 


Cremation services in Portland, ME, like us, are also here to help. Contact us if you want a provider to take care of the cremation and the memorial service. Our professionals are available 24/7. Call us now to speak with one of them.


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