Six traditional readings for a burial at sea, with a few exact lines from each, and practical advice on who reads, how long to read, wind and silence.
Most families who hold a burial at sea want something spoken before the release. Often it is a text that has been read over the water for generations. This guide covers six traditional readings and how to read them well on a moving deck. For a wider selection of poems and passages, see Readings for a Burial at Sea. For writing your own words, see Preparing Remarks for a Burial at Sea Ceremony.
All of these texts are in the public domain, so they can be printed, shared and read aloud freely.
Tennyson wrote this short poem late in life and asked that it be placed at the end of his collected poems. It describes a ship leaving harbor at evening, and its lines suit a vessel that has just left the bay:
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
The whole poem is four short stanzas and takes about a minute to read.
Masefield's poem opens with the well-known longing to go down to the seas again. It suits someone who loved sailing or the coast. Its best-known line is:
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
Printed editions differ slightly in the wording of the first line, so choose one edition and print from it.
This passage describes sailors caught in a storm and brought safely through. In the King James Version it begins:
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
It ends with a line that many families find fitting at the moment of release: so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Many people know this psalm by heart, which makes it a good choice when guests want to say the words together. It opens:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Its picture of the still waters can feel close at hand on a calm morning offshore.
The first verse of the Navy Hymn is often spoken rather than sung at sea, especially for a veteran. It begins:
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
The hymn's background is covered in Eternal Father, Strong to Save: The History of the Navy Hymn.
The Book of Common Prayer includes a committal for burial at sea, with the words we therefore commit his body to the deep. Families who use it often change the pronoun, and some adjust the wording to suit cremated remains. It is short and formal, and it is usually read just before the release.
The family decides. Some families give each reading to a different person: a child, a sibling, an old friend. Others ask one steady voice to read everything. Families may hold the ceremony themselves or ask the crew to suggest an officiant. If a reader may be overcome, choose a second person ahead of time who can quietly finish the reading. That is not a failure, and nobody aboard will see it as one.
Two or three short readings fit a ceremony well. Time on the water passes quickly, and much of what families remember is the quiet after the words, not the words alone. A useful plan is one reading before the release, the release itself, then one reading after. Time each reading aloud at home. Most of the texts above take under two minutes.
Offshore there is almost always some breeze, and a loose sheet of paper is hard to hold. A few simple steps help.
Bring a second printed copy in a pocket or bag. Phones work, but screens are hard to read in bright sun.
Silence is part of the ceremony. After a reading, pause before the next one begins. After the release, let the water be quiet for a while before anyone speaks. Burials at Sea San Diego closes each ceremony with eight bells, and many families let that sound be the last word, with no reading after it.
The readings take place beyond the three-nautical-mile line. Under the EPA's general permit for burial at sea, 40 CFR 229.1, cremated remains may be placed in the ocean at any depth provided the site is at least three nautical miles from land (see the EPA burial at sea page). California Health and Safety Code section 7117 requires a permit for disposition for the scattering. The crew handles the boat. The family holds the ceremony, readings included.
Rules on burial at sea can change. Before your ceremony, please check the current requirements on the EPA burial at sea page, in California Health and Safety Code section 7117, and with the San Diego County Vital Records office. We are glad to walk you through each step, and you can reserve a date when you are ready.