Read it privately
Set aside a quiet moment and read the poem without turning it into a ceremony. Pause when you need to.
A gentle reading for pet remembrance
The Rainbow Bridge Poem for Pets
For many people, the Rainbow Bridge gives words to a hope that is hard to express: that a beloved companion is safe, whole, and remembered.
On this page
The short answer
The Rainbow Bridge poem imagines a peaceful place where pets who have died are healthy again and wait to be reunited with the people who love them. It is not a formal religious teaching. It is a comforting image that many families use when remembering dogs, cats, and other companion animals.
The authorized reading
The Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, your pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who have been ill and old are restored to health and strength, those who were hurt are made better and strong again, like we remember them before they go to heaven. They are happy and content except for one small thing, they each miss someone very special to them who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance, his bright eyes are shineing (sic), his body shakes. Suddenly he begins to run from the herd, rushing over the grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cuddle in a happy hug never to be apart again. You and your pet are in tears. Your hands again cuddle his head and you look again into his trusting eyes, so long gone from life, but never absent from your heart, and then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together.
The story behind the words
Who wrote the Rainbow Bridge poem?
Edna Clyne-Rekhy wrote the original Rainbow Bridge text in Scotland in 1959, after the death of her Labrador Retriever, Major. She was nineteen. According to reporting published in 2023, her mother suggested that she put her grief into words. Edna wrote the piece at home near Inverness and kept the handwritten pages for decades.
For years, photocopies circulated through veterinary clinics, humane societies, condolence cards, and early online communities without her name. A copy printed by the Dear Abby advice column in 1994 helped the text reach a much wider audience, but the author was still listed as unknown.
Historian Paul Koudounaris later traced the work back to Clyne-Rekhy. His investigation, reported by The Order of the Good Death and National Geographic, connected her story and surviving manuscript to the text that had long been shared as “Author Unknown.”
Edna writes the poem after Major dies.
Dear Abby prints a copy without an identified author.
The investigation identifying Edna is published.
Why copies do not always match
There is more than one version online
The Rainbow Bridge spread person to person for decades. Along the way, copies changed. Some use different pronouns, replace a few words, combine paragraphs, or turn the prose into rhyme. Those versions may carry the same central image, but they should not all be presented as Edna Clyne-Rekhy’s original wording.
01
Original prose
The 1959 text associated with Edna and her surviving handwritten manuscript.
02
Circulating copies
Transcriptions with small wording, punctuation, or paragraph changes.
03
Later adaptations
Rhyming, shortened, species-specific, or illustrated versions created later.
For this page, the final publication copy should match one identified licensed source. No wording should be “cleaned up” during editing unless the agreement permits it.
A comforting image, not a rule of belief
What does the Rainbow Bridge mean?
The Rainbow Bridge is a metaphor for love continuing after a pet’s death. The poem pictures animals restored to health, free to run and play, yet still connected to the people they left behind. Its emotional center is recognition: the moment when a person and pet find each other again.
That image can soften two painful parts of grief. First, it replaces memories of illness, age, or a difficult final day with an image of the pet as healthy and at ease. Second, it gives the relationship a future-facing language. The bond is no longer described only by what has ended; it is also held in memory, hope, and the ways a person continues to care.
People understand the poem in different ways. Some read it as a picture of the afterlife. Others treat it as a story, metaphor, or private hope. There is no need to settle that question for someone else. The poem can be meaningful without being presented as a religious or scientific claim.
One idea for many kinds of companionship
Is the poem only for dogs?
No. Although the poem was written after the death of Major, a Labrador Retriever, its wording is about animals and the people who love them. Families commonly use the Rainbow Bridge when remembering cats, rabbits, horses, birds, and other companion animals.
A separate dog or cat rewrite is not necessary. Keeping one text respects the licensed version and avoids suggesting that one kind of bond is more deserving than another. The surrounding remembrance can still be personal: a cat’s favorite window, a dog’s familiar walking route, the sound of a bird greeting the morning, or the quiet routine shared with a rabbit.
When you are ready
You do not have to decide how to remember them today.
Begin with one small memory. A name, a photograph, or a sentence is enough.
There is no single right ritual
Gentle ways to use the Rainbow Bridge in remembrance
A memorial does not have to be elaborate. Choose something that fits the relationship you shared and the energy you have today.
Share the authorized page
Send a link rather than copying the full poem into a message. Add one specific memory of the pet.
Create a small memory place
Place a photograph, collar, tag, or favorite toy somewhere you can visit without pressure.
Write a note to your pet
Say what you miss, what made you laugh, and what you hope they always knew.
Do something in their name
Plant something, walk a familiar route, support a shelter, or offer kindness to another animal.
A five-minute remembrance
Write down one thing you never want to forget
Try one prompt now. You can return to the others later.
My pet’s name and nicknames:
A small habit that still makes me smile:
What I would say if we met again:
The downloadable worksheet is original MoryLane material and does not reproduce the poem.
Common questions
About the Rainbow Bridge poem
Who wrote the Rainbow Bridge poem?
Edna Clyne-Rekhy wrote the original text in Scotland in 1959 after the death of her Labrador Retriever, Major. Her authorship was publicly reported in 2023 after historian Paul Koudounaris traced the widely circulated anonymous poem back to her and examined her handwritten manuscript.
When was the Rainbow Bridge poem written?
Clyne-Rekhy wrote it in 1959, when she was nineteen. The poem circulated privately for decades and reached a much wider audience after an unattributed copy appeared in the Dear Abby advice column in 1994.
What does it mean when a pet crosses the Rainbow Bridge?
It is a gentle way of saying that a pet has died. The phrase comes from the poem’s image of animals resting in a peaceful place until they are reunited with the people who love them.
Is the Rainbow Bridge poem only for dogs?
No. The poem was inspired by a dog, but its language and central idea apply to cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other companion animals. The relationship matters more than the species.
What is the original Rainbow Bridge poem?
The original is the prose text that Edna Clyne-Rekhy wrote in 1959 after her dog Major died. Many later copies contain small wording changes, and separate rhyming adaptations also circulate. A page claiming to show the original should identify its source and preserve that version exactly.
Is there a short Rainbow Bridge poem?
Short quotations and later adaptations appear online, but shortening the original creates a new edited version. This page does not present an abbreviated text as the original. For a card, it is often better to share the page link and write one personal sentence about the pet.
Is the Rainbow Bridge a religious belief?
Not in any formal or universal sense. Some readers connect the poem with their faith, while others understand it as a metaphor or comforting story. It is best shared without assuming what another person believes about the afterlife.
Can I print or share the poem?
You may share the link to this page. Printing, copying, republishing, adapting, or using the full text in another product depends on the rights granted by the copyright holder. The final page should state any permissions that apply to readers.
What can I write in a card for someone who lost a pet?
Keep it personal and simple. You might write, “I’m so sorry. I’ll always remember how happy Luna looked on your morning walks.” Naming the pet and recalling one real detail often feels more caring than trying to explain the loss.