I Am (SSAA)
- Stanley M. Hoffman
- May 5
- 2 min read
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
---Mary Elizabeth Frye
The poem above is sometimes called “I Am” due to its repetition of the phrase. Was the poem inspired? The Hebrew name for God, YHWH, means “I am” or “I am that I am.” And there does seem to be something magical about the poem, as it was written by a woman who, to our knowledge, had never written a poem before. Mary Elizabeth Frye was an orphan with no formal education. In 1932 she and her husband hosted a young Jewish woman, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was fleeing the Holocaust. When she received news that her mother had died in Germany, the heartbroken houseguest told Frye in despair that she had never had the chance to “stand by my mother’s grave and shed a tear.” Frye found herself composing the poem above on a ripped-off section of a brown paper shopping bag. She said the words “just came to her.”
Words: Public Domain. Music: © Copyright 2018, 2026 by Stanley M. Hoffman. www.stanleymhoffman.com All rights reserved.
The sheet music is available for licensing from the composer, and for sale from Sheet Music Plus.
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