Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
Notes
April 1936
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funeral blues
From guest Alison Burrows (contact)
I have come across the funeral blues before, four wedding and a funeral, came out. My Father, and shortly after my Mother, died all last year, and that poam ment so much Thank you -
From guest Pome (contact)
Terribly touching and romantic. I like how Auden uses words. He shows deep grief without bringing us to tears -
My favourite part
From guest Ryno (contact)
He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. -
This poem was written 72 years ago. Technology and the English language have gone through many, many changes since 1936. I don't agree with your thoughts on this poem, but, like me you are entitled to your opinion. I feel that the words in the poem are written from a grieving perspective and from personal experience life in general makes no sense whatsoever when one is heartbroken
The last line is the only line that jars for me, I've always felt that it doesn't fit and is not a good ending to a fine poem.
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Auden Funeral Blues
From guest Kevin Straw (contact)
This is technically the worst poem ever published in an anthology. You don't "cut off" a telephone, you unhook it. "Prevent" should be "Stop" (No one says "Oh darling prevent the dog from barking , will you?"). Aeroplanes don't "scribble". Putting crepe bows on doves is an absurd image. The reader falls asleep during the utterly predictable third verse. "I thought love..." is maudlin nonsense - if he thought that, then he must have been stupid not to think that "forever" included after death. "Dismantle" is bad for an object with no parts. If you pour away the ocean where (on earth) do you pour it to? "Sweep up" is risibly ambiguous a) is this a litter job? b) with what kind of broom do you sweep away trees? I could go on. The lesson - when you read poetry engage brain as well as sentiment. -
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This is one of the most arresting poems of grief I have come across. The writer is saying things can never be the same, why are things apparently normal now that this overwhelming tragedy has happened. All normal activity should be suspended to deal with this great loss.
Guest Kevin seems to have fallen into the trap that many readers fall into, believing that their way of speaking and phrasing is the only way there is. To take a couple of examples
Cut off: In England when a call is interupted we almost always say cut-off, connections that are terminated are said to be cut-off and, in the less technically aware days when this was written, it was not unknown for subscribers to get a pair of scissors and cut the telephone cable off!!
Scribbling: Sky writing using aeroplane vapour trails was not an unusual activity in Auden's days and it often looked more like a scribbled note than copperplate script.
So please readers do, as Kevin himself says, when you read poetry engage brain as well as sentiment.
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my fave!
From guest psycho bitch (contact)
this is my fave poem by auden. he is one of my fave poets and i have learned so much about it. he enspired me to write my own poems. this poem i really understood the meaning of the first time i read it. its a great one.no joke! -
This is an excellent poem that depicts the feelings of those "left behind" by the death of a friend and is such a dramatic contrast to Tennyson's "Over the Bar"
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From guest Rachel (contact)
I think everyone is right, when they say this poem best applies to death or lost love. I know that when I had my heart broken, this poem gave words to my pain. It's beautiful and hearbreaking. I too first heard it when watching Four Weddings and a Funeral. -
From guest Sarah (contact)
Having just lost my partner I have had trouble expressing the extent of my feelings. W. H. Auden has always be a favourite poet of mine, the magnitude of grief written in the poem echoes exactly how I feel. Truly a piece of immense feeling and understanding. -
Living life "One Day at a Time"
From guest Bertram (contact)
I am a member of AA, and live my life "one day at a time." I have to, so that I don't drink. But somehow, I don't think Auden's persona here (and I refer to the persona as masculine, based on Auden's own acknowledged homosexuality) is ready for that...just like the first 12 lines mock cliches, so would "live one day at a time" be a cliche to one who just has suffered the grief of his beloved dying. The supremely intense first days (weeks? months?) of pain and loss just don't respond, won't respond to simple words. "For nothing now can ever come to any good" simply overwhelms the survivor, who really doesn't want to survive, who wants the agony to end...end NOW. And so, "The stars are not wanted now; put out everyone one,/"Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,..." But, there IS a hint that life can go on, will go on, may even see the pain diminish: "The stars are not wanted NOW," the mourner says. Certainly, "not wanted now" can mean "not wanted any more," and that meaning is rich here; but it also can mean "not wanted at this moment," which is temporary. Might he want them, need them later? Nothing's for sure, but there's that chance buried in the poetry. As for Auden not understanding the real meaning of life: Another AA motto is, "Even this shall pass." Well, that means good things as well as bad things, as the grieving survivor just has learned: "I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong." Maybe if or when he is ready to see the stars again, he will know that there is a huge difference between "love" lasting forever and "the presence of the beloved" lasting forever. When my closest friend died in my arms -- sober, by the way -- his body wasn't here any more. But after I worked through the pain, I realized the real him never has left. Actually, I embraced the pain, because that tells me how important he is, how important our friendship is, how important I am, and (most importantly) how important God is. My friend and I talk daily. He is lasting forever, now that I know what "loving" and "now" and "forever" actually mean. And it is quite relevant to mention God in discussing Auden; he never really left the Church of England; and more and more deeply embraced Christianity as he grew older. One final line: One commenter says the last line seems too easy: "For nothing now can ever come to any good." Easy? Not to me. That is the only line the grieving lover CAN say at this moment, because that is all that grief allows him to feel, if it allows him to feel anything at all. And that all is only part of why this is such a fantastic poem! -
Death
From guest Frank Kertis (contact)
I never knew this poem until I saw "Three Weddings and A Funeral". It's beautiful. Although my wife of fifty-six years is still with me, it's how I feel about her. -
This is my absolute most favorite poem. It describes my emotions so very well. The death of a loved one or the death of love...I always turn to this poem when my heart is breaking. Every year on the anniversary of my dads death I read this & post it in my journal.
Such love, such beautiful words. -
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It is hard to see what could be added, Auden has said it all and yet he has been extraordinairly brief. Barely into his 20s when it was written Auden seems to put a lifetimes experiences into these words.
A better description of the loss of ones lover will be hard to find. -
FUNERAL BLUES
From guest Sarah Greenhill (contact)
I really love this poem!!! It is also absolutely perfect to use on school assignments when you have to deconstruct a poem cause there are mnay sites that have very useful information that you can quote. All up a fantastic poem -
Funeral Blues
From guest James Smyth (contact)
This poem reminds me of Shakespeare's sonnet which tells us that 'time doth tranfix the flourish set on youth and delves the parallels on beauty's brow, feeds on the rarities of nature's truth and nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.' It also, in some strange way has traces of Emily Dickinson's little verse which says, 'How dreary to be somebody: how public like a frog: to tell your name the live long day to an admiring bog'. But the poet seems not to understand the real meaning of life, which is to enjoy the present moment or as Alcoholics Anonymous say, 'A Day at a Time'. Yet at the same time Auden will strike a chord with many -
Funeral Blues
From guest Katie Gluck (contact)
Do you know if this is published in caligraphy etc. I would like to give it to a friend for Christmea -
I really loved this piece. It is amazing...the poem captured all the feelings of loss and wanting the whole world to grive with you. Amazing. I cried when I read this because I could relaly relate to this so easily!
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Funeral Blues
From guest D.T. Drewyer (contact)
As if in a classical sonnet Auden establishes a laundry list of funeral cliches and even pokes fun at them in his first 12 lines - then slams the door shut on the fun with a turn into the truth of grief with 'the stars are not needed now' haunting and direct - no more fun and games - the last line of this poem I've never been comfortable with, it seems too easy. -
extremly deep and moving
bravo,this is a most telling work of love and respect it has moved more than anything I have read in along long time. -
Brilliant irony
Auden was an extremely intelligent and interesting poet, and that's why I love reading his poems.
While this poem does have great rhythm and beautiful language, what I've loved ever since I studied it was how completely ironic it is.
Though Auden did have really interesting ideas on love, they tended to be very cynical and anti-romantic. In fact, his ideas on death and poetry itself ran pretty much the same way-- just look at "In Memory of W.B. Yeats."
What he basically did here is mockingly string together every elegaic cliche that he could think of, as a subtle way of expressing his contempt for them. The idea in the last line that "nothing now can ever come to any good" directly contrasts his actual views on death.
Many people-- including the makers of 4 Weddings and a Funeral-- take this poem at surface value, but I've always been fond of it's subtle irony and wit. -
Deep
Wow, this is a very deep poem. I love the way Auden wrote this, with truly expressing his feelings of his loss, and his honor towards this man.
It truly is very sad when someone loved this deeply is lost, its a tragedy, of course. It does make you feel empty, and sometimes you want to leave the earth behind. Such as this leans on, Auden - or this charchter- is so lost without this person, and feels left behind and scorned, its hard to relate to anything else.
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i was given this poem by my partner during our split. this poem is fundamentally about death- the death of a lover, of friendship and of the remaining partner, who internally and metaphorically speaking, is also dead. this poem helped me to appreciate my partner and if i ever lost him - nothing could sum up my feelings any clearer than W. H. Auden.
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This is an amazing poem its loving and beautiful, and a fantastic rhyming technique!!!
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I've always loved Auden. Though I know some don't .. I too heard it first in that movie which is one of my favorite chick flicks of all time.
I hope in Praise of Limestone is on the list for this week.
Lisa
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Chosen for the movie 4 Weddings and a Funeral and since I first heard this it has captivated me and thanks to a friend my interest in this and other Auden poem has been re-kindled.
This is to me a poem of grief, love but also the epitome of respect.
Vonny -
This is my favourite poem by Auden. It epitomises
everything about grief. I think this particular verse sums up the whole poem:
"He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong."
A most beautiful poem - thank you for posting it. -
This poem, I first heard it on Four weddings and a funeral. My mother and grandmother agreed that this was how it became so very famous. It is a beautiful poem, Just stunning...
LoneStar -
could any line ever be cooler than "pack up the moon and dismantle the sun" ??
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very good ironic poem, even though most tend to think it sad
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i absolutely adore this poem, and always have-I could go into a whole analysis of it but I won't! I'll just say read it a few times before you comment or make opinion on it. This is a piece of the utmost beauty
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