The broken chain poem is a 16-line bereavement poem by American poet Ron Tranmer. It pictures a family as a chain, with each person as one link. A death breaks a link. The last stanza promises the chain will join again as God calls each person home.
Families read it at funerals, print it in memorial programs and put it on keepsakes. Below you’ll find the full text, the real story behind it, how the original and revised versions differ, what the chain image means, and what Tranmer allows when you print it.
The Broken Chain Poem Full Text
This is the original version, as Tranmer publishes it on his official Broken Chain page. His own title is “Broken Chain.” Readers also call it “The Broken Chain,” or the Our Family Chain Is Broken poem, after the first line of the last stanza.
Who Wrote “Broken Chain” and Why?
Ron Tranmer wrote “Broken Chain” after the death of a family member, as he explains on his About Me page. Some websites say he wrote it after losing a grandchild. That is not correct: Tranmer connects the loss of a grandchild to a different poem, “Teardrops.”
Tranmer was born in Jerome, Idaho, in 1940, the oldest of seven children. He wrote his first poem at age eight. Since then he has copyrighted more than 400 poems on faith, family, love and loss. He has published three books of poetry, and some of his verses are licensed for plaques, throw blankets and headstones.
The poem is older than most readers think. In a 2017 reply to a reader on his site, Tranmer said he wrote it more than 50 years earlier. That dates it to the mid-1960s or before, long before it spread online.
Original vs. Revised: Which Version Should You Use?
Tranmer publishes two versions of “Broken Chain” on his website: the original and one he revised himself. A third, mixed version is common on gifts and social media. Its small wording changes did not come from him.
| Version | Third stanza opens | Last stanza, line 2 | Where you’ll see it |
| Original | “You left us peaceful memories” | “and nothing seems the same” | Tranmer’s site, most funeral programs |
| Revised by the author | “We’re left with loving memories” | “and our lives are not the same” | |
| Shared online variant | “You left us beautiful memories” | “And nothing seems the same” | Gift products, social posts |
The biggest difference sits in the third stanza. The original ends that stanza with the idea that the person is still beside the family, even unseen. The revision swaps this for the family feeling that person’s love “in everything we do.”
Both official versions are Tranmer’s, so either is a sound choice. Copy your version straight from his site, not from a card or a social post. Mixed-up lines from other sources are how the variants began.
What Does the Broken Chain Symbolise?
In Tranmer’s poem, the chain stands for a family, and each person is a link. When someone dies, one link breaks, and the whole family feels it. The last lines turn this into a promise of faith. As each member dies, God joins the links again, so the family is whole in heaven.
That image is why some readers call it the family chain poem. Spiritually, the broken chain points to a bond that death interrupts but does not end. God is named three times in the poem, and the ending rests on the Christian hope of reunion after death.
[IMAGE: A metal chain with one separated link lying on a table | alt text: Metal chain with one separated link showing the family chain symbol in the broken chain poem]
A Stanza-by-Stanza Reading
- Stanza 1: The loss came without warning. “We little knew” is an older phrase meaning “we weren’t expecting it,” a point Tranmer himself explained to a reader who found the line confusing. The stanza ends by saying the family’s love continues after death.
- Stanza 2: Grief is shared. The line about part of the family going with the one who died shows loss as something the whole family carries.
- Stanza 3: The speaker turns to memory and presence. The person can’t be seen but still guides the family.
- Stanza 4: The chain appears for the first time. Tranmer holds the image back until line 13. The first 12 lines speak straight to the person who died, so the chain arrives as the poem’s closing answer to that grief.
Form and Rhyme
“Broken Chain” is written in four quatrains (four-line stanzas), 16 lines in all. Each stanza rhymes on its second and fourth lines (an ABCB pattern): name and same, alone and home, guide and side, same and again. Some guides label it AABB, but the text shows otherwise.
Short lines and plain words make the poem easy to read aloud, even for someone new to public speaking. Because it keeps speaking to “you,” mourners feel addressed directly.
How Families Use the Broken Chain Funeral Poem
The broken chain funeral poem shows up in a few settings, almost always tied to a family loss:
- Readings at the service: A relative or officiant reads it aloud at a funeral, memorial or graveside.
- Printed tributes: It fits on one side of a program, prayer card or obituary without crowding the page.
- Keepsakes: Families frame it beside a photo or order it on plaques, throws and memorial gifts.
- The last stanza alone: The four “family chain” lines are often used by themselves on obituaries, headstones and sympathy cards.
If the family is drawn to the poem’s promise of meeting again, a reunion-themed reading can work alongside it in the same service.
Permission and Credit Rules
Tranmer allows personal, non-profit use of his poetry. That includes reading it at funerals and printing it for programs and keepsakes, as long as he is credited as the author. He also asks people to include his website, rontranmer.com.
Commercial use is a different matter. Resale, mass production and publication for profit need a written license from Tranmer, arranged through his site. For a printable broken chain poem, copy the text from his official page and add the line “Ron Tranmer, rontranmer.com” beneath it.
How Broken Chain Compares With Other Funeral Poems
“Broken Chain” suits family funerals where faith and the hope of reunion matter most. Other well-known funeral poems take a different tone, so the right choice depends on the family and the service.
| Poem | Poet | Tone | Best fit |
| Broken Chain | Ron Tranmer | Gentle, Christian, hopeful | Loss of a family member at a faith-based service |
| Funeral Blues (“Stop all the clocks”) | W. H. Auden | Raw grief, offers little comfort | Loss of a partner; well known from the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral |
| She Is Gone | David Harkins | Encourages smiling at a life lived | Celebration-of-life services |
| Death Is Nothing at All | Henry Scott Holland | Calm, spoken as if by the person who died | Services that stress a continuing bond |
“Funeral Blues” became a eulogy staple after its reading in Four Weddings and a Funeral. “She Is Gone” gained wide attention when Queen Elizabeth II chose it for the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002, as The Globe and Mail reported. Auden’s poem is the one to avoid if the family wants comfort, since it ends in despair. Holland’s funeral reading is closest to “Broken Chain” in warmth but carries less family imagery.
Is the Broken Chain Poem Right for Your Service?
The broken chain poem works best when a family has lost someone who held it together and finds comfort in faith. Its plain words let anyone read it without stumbling. Its last stanza gives mourners a clear hope to hold. Choose the original for most programs, credit Ron Tranmer by name, and copy the words from his official site.
If you’d like a few other readings to consider alongside it, browse our poems for every loss.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the significance of the broken chain in the poem?
The broken chain stands for a family split apart by death. Each person is a link, and losing one changes the shape of the whole chain, even though it isn’t destroyed.
How long does it take to read Broken Chain aloud?
Reading the poem aloud takes about a minute or less. At 16 short lines and under 100 words, it is short enough to share a service with other readings. That also suits a nervous reader who wants a piece they can finish calmly without losing their place.
Where can I find more poems by Ron Tranmer?
Tranmer’s website, rontranmer.com, sorts his poems into more than 40 categories, including a sympathy section. His bereavement collection, “One By One The Chain Will Link Again,” shares its title with this poem’s closing line. It gathers 96 grief poems, many of them written for a specific relationship or circumstance.
