Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.a
Multiple versions of this poem exist and because the author was unknown for most of its existence and therefore never copyright, complete freedom was given to rewrite as necessary for the occasion. Although a version exists out there somewhere that alters, edits, teaks or tailors nearly every other line, one universally present element united them all is the opening couplet which appears to be considered too sacred (or at least too essential) to the poem to make any changes.
I am the gentle showers of rain
I am the fields of ripening grain
These two lines which appear in the officially ordained “original” version of the poem are also two lines most likely to be altered in alternative versions. For instance, the lore surrounding the mystery of the poem’s origin includes a version which Frye gave to Margaret Schwarzkopf and which she published on a printed card. However, another version of this particular bit of lore is that Schwarzkopf was merely part of a complicated conduit through the card was actually made by Federal Printing Press. At any rate, the version which appeared on the card included changes to this couplet:
“I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.”
Meanwhile, a version published in the Portsmouth Herald in 1968 is slightly different from both of the above:
“I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.”
I am the starshine of the night.
One of the most famous alternative versions was printed for a Spanish-American War memorial service held for veterans in 1938. While that version includes a number of minor changes from the original, the most curious change of all is that somewhere along the way a single line was either purposely or accidentally removed. Thus, while the original is a 12-line sonnet, this version is only eleven lines with the quote above missing entirely.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there I do not die.
Like the opening couplet, the two lines which close the poem are generally left untouched in alternative versions. Before Frye was finally identified as the original author, one theory was that its origins could be traced back to an ancient indigenous American tribal prayer. The particular versions that adhere to that theory exist in versions even slightly different from each other. One of the most popular versions makes the most striking changes to the original by substantially changing the wording—if not the meaning—of both the opening and closing couplets. The alteration in the concluding lines is the most notable and actually endows the ending with more poetic flair than Frye’s original which essentially just restates the with just a couple of changes in word choice. By contrast, the ending of this version also restates the same basic concept as the opening, but is expressed in language that is a complete transformation of its opening:
"I give you this one thought to keep -
I am with you still - I do not sleep.
...
Do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still - in each new dawn.”
