I have been thinking about people who have died.
I had a memory, teenaged, of hearing Sir Laurence Olivier read this poem to his wife, Joan Plowright, in a documentary about his life. He was very old. I remembered only fragments, and thanks to those words and to Google, I found it.
From a sermon delivered at St Paul’s Cathedral in May 1910 following the death of King Edward VII:
Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!
Henry Scott Holland, 1847-1918
The sermon in its entirety can be found here.
Hi, I came across your blog in a google search for "Laurence Olivier reads Death Is Nothing At All". I recently found the documentary you mentioned on You Tube, and I watched it many times until the user removed it. I was lucky to have written down the poem exactly as Sir Laurence read it. He was a sweet, dear old man sitting in his garden reading this poem exactly as follows:
ReplyDelete*************************************
Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away
In to the next room.
I am I, and you are you.
Whoever we were to each other,
we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way you always used.
Put no difference in to your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed,
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be forever the household word
that is always was.
Let it be spoken without affect,
without the ghost of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
There is absolutely unbroken continuity.
What is this death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
All is well.
...I am sorry I never found that video. I would have liked to have seen it again
DeleteAs for the 'poem'...um, you have taken the time to write down exactly what is in the post, above :-)
It's not a poem, actually, as I wrote in the post, but part of a sermon.
Indeed, a sermon. The way Laurence Olivier it read it aloud is somewhat different, which is why I wrote it down. Wish I could find that documentary again too!
ReplyDeleteThis must be the documentary you saw: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216874/
ReplyDeleteThanks :-) I have seen that one...but the documentary in which he reads the sermon is:
Deletehttp://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/471921/One-Man-in-His-Time-A-Tribute-to-Laurence-Olivier/
Not available on any format. Was televised in Britain on ITV. I was lucky to see a clip someone posted on YouTube, but it has been removed.