Famous Death Poem

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) uses symbolism and strong imagery in this poem to show a person’s response to loss. It doesn’t matter how strong or tough you are; when an influential person in your life passes away, you feel the effects. Although this poem does show that we experience regrets with things left unsaid, our lives are made better by that person's influence. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on Maya Angelou’s birthday (April 4) in 1968, and his death deeply affected her. In fact, she stopped celebrating her own birthday for many years.

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I have also lost a son, a baby boy. Back then I was very grieved by that experience. I was told by people that loved me and helped support me to quickly heal and get over the way I felt, even...

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Famous Poem

When Great Trees Fall

Maya Angelou By more Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

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Has this poem touched you? Share your story!
  • Naina Kumari by Naina Kumari
  • 3 years ago

I've never lost someone I loved, and I wish I never lose anyone I love so much. But growing as a scared kid inside, I always think about dying. Nobody knows how many times I've sat in my room and cried. How many times I've been let down, how many times I have felt like I was going to snap, how many times I have held back tears. When I'm sad, bad thoughts go through my mind. I cry behind closed doors and fight battles that nobody knows about. It feels restless, sometimes worthless.

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  • Joy Norkin by Joy Norkin
  • 3 years ago

A friend gave me this poem when my husband died. I printed copies and brought them to share at his graveside burial. I thought I could read it on my own but grew too emotional and then my children and our family priest all joined in reading it. Even my seven and nine year old children understood the message of the poem and said that Daddy was the great tree and even though he's dead, he left them gifts in his actions and words. I am thankful that Maya Angelou could word-smith exactly what we are all feeling.

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  • Michelle Dotson by Michelle Dotson
  • 4 years ago

I am so grateful to have found this site. I, too, lost my special needs son who was 32 on December 31, 2016. I was so broken-hearted. I arrived to the nursing home for a visit and noticed he did not look like himself. I requested he be sent to the ER at the nearest Hospital to be seen. Due to my lack of nursing experience, my request was overlooked. The staff humiliated me in front of staff. I felt my son and he was cold. I was told I should be happy my son had been bathed, and he was not the only one who needed care. I watched my son take his last breath, after asking the nurse at the service desk if my son should be cold and have his fingernails turning blue. The head nurse called the rescue squad and my son passed. I want to tell others if this is your passion caring for the sick and you can't take suggestions from the family, assist families to get the assistance they need to care for their loved ones at home.

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  • Madison Stocker by Madison Stocker
  • 3 years ago

I, too, have lost someone. I lost my grandma whom I was really close to. She died of cancer, and it was hard on my mother and my grandpa. The sad thing is my little brother and sister never got to meet their grandma.

It wasn't until I lost my son recently that I can understand this poem. My son's life and his untimely death has forever altered my soul and my existence. I always considered myself a spiritual person, a believer of God. I have gone through past grief and deep sorrow in my life. The loss of my precious son has brought me to the foot of the cross of God like no other loss I've suffered. Although all loss is sorrowful, there are those in our life that are extremely difficult to deal with. I now believe God put those precious, special souls purposely in our life to teach us and to help us. When they leave this world, those of us who've been touched by them are forever changed. Deep down we know they are so very different, so special, so great a soul, and through their existence in our life and their departure from our life, we are left to come face to face with the most intense feelings, thoughts, and emotions we realize we never would have encountered if not for their precious existence in our life in the first place.

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  • Dr Carla Selemea by Dr Carla Selemea
  • 2 years ago

Dear Patricia, your candid contribution and comments regarding this Maya Angelou poem was quite touching. One of my excellent nurses at a previous institution just very recently suffered a sudden loss of her son. I feel this poem may also be meaningful to her. I am sorry for your loss and hope that you and your family have been able to find comfort in your memories of your child as well as each other. May the Lord bless and keep you and your family until you are all reunited again.

  • Ericka Barnes by Ericka Barnes
  • 3 years ago

I have also lost a son, a baby boy. Back then I was very grieved by that experience. I was told by people that loved me and helped support me to quickly heal and get over the way I felt, even without knowing how to help me deal with it themselves. I did try very hard in the beginning to handle my pain. Burying the sorrow inside myself brought a greater deal of hurt and pain into my life because I felt like I was supposed to keep everything I was feeling inside. The sorrow turned into utter grief and made me more alone, which triggered more sadness until I could no longer hide the suffering, until I cried out to God to give me an understanding of it all. God shared with me that things that hurt us the most were meant to help us grow and to give us more faith in Him knowing that He knows and has all the healing power ready and available any and every time we come to Him to receive it.

  • Jane E. Barrett by Jane E. Barrett
  • 4 years ago

Hello Patricia
Sorry for your loss. I lost my beautiful soul, my son, eight months ago. His death was unexpected and still unbelievable. I haven't read Mayas' poem yet but am drawn to it. I find his death difficult to speak of but am replying because what you wrote touched me deeply and I can resonate with what your feeling. God bless you.

  • Paul Jones by Paul Jones
  • 4 years ago

My elder son died suddenly last Saturday. He was 37, married with 2 young children. No life he touched, and there were a lot, he was a teacher, was not better for having known him. This is the poem I will read at his funeral, if I have the strength to do so. Your words have a great resonance with me, thank you.

  • Kristen by Kristen
  • 4 years ago

Very well said. I just recently lost my one and only child, my 30-year old son. I feel very similar as you do. His significance in my life is so very evident. Thank you.

  • Joseph Crawford by Joseph Crawford
  • 5 years ago

I lost my partner of 17 years in 2018. He was the best thing that ever happened to me. The poem reminds me of him because he was like a great tree. He was my rock. I miss him so very much. I can't believe it has been a year, but it seems like yesterday. I will always love and chairish the time we had. Rest in peace, Kerry. I love you.

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