The poem
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 woods; For nothing now can ever come to any good.
i have found this to be one of the best poems ever written by an american poet.i have decided that it to be read at my funeral which i am currently arranging instead of anything biblical
Ben, just so you know, Wystan Hugh Auden is not an American poet. He was born in York, England in 1907.
You are both correct!!! Auden was born in Englad and sent to school through univeristy in the UK, after that he lived in Germany, and during the Spanish Civil War he served as an ambulance driver. Auden immigrated to the United States in 1939 (he became an American citizen in 1946)
i first get to know the poem in the film of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" which is humourous and thought-provoking moive, which is a love story but not all about love, also touches on life, dead, friendship, sex and so on.especially the humanistic attitude to true love between gays deeply moved me, yeah, at the moment i came across the poem which is very simple, charming, filled with sincere feeling and touches on…
Read the whole commenti first get to know the poem in the film of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" which is humourous and thought-provoking moive, which is a love story but not all about love, also touches on life, dead, friendship, sex and so on.especially the humanistic attitude to true love between gays deeply moved me, yeah, at the moment i came across the poem which is very simple, charming, filled with sincere feeling and touches on my heart.the poem enriches the whole film although the main plot of the film is about the love story of the two leading actor and actress. and i want to read W.H.Auden's biography or the background or environment when he wrote the poem, i know here prohibition from raising questions, i am not sure whether my expectation mentioned above is a question or not
Simply put, the most moving and tender work that I have ever had the great pleasure to be exposed to in my life. Many Thanks Mr. Auden.
this poem is just fantastic....
it is initself a lovely piece of art and also true to the fact that it has been written beautifully with so much meaning and copassion.
thank god for w h auden as this sums up to a tee what i and everyone else who has lost someone out there is thinking and feeling But at this time can not even think straight about what to say in such sad times of losing someone specia.l
This will brighten up my nans heart on the day of her funeral thanks again
Yesterday evening died one of the greatest Polish citizens ever. I mean the Pope John Paul II. The poem is just right for today...
I saw this poem in my English book, and I couldn't resist to read it... I think it's the best poem I've ever read!! I've printed some photocopies and I've given it to some friends that like me, think it's a special poem...and wow! that's increible because a lot of them dislike poetry!!
And I've decided that I want it to be read at my funeral, too.
We think this poem is really fantastic. The metaphores are magnificent and if any of us had to chose a favorite poem it would have to be this. But we can't seem to figure out who the poem was written to... Does anybody know???
I came across this poem as it was referenced by the lyricist for Rush, Neil Peart. He had lost his onlt daughter in a car crash and less then a year later his wife died of cancer(he claims a broken heart). I find the the words compelling when dealing with such tragic loss and appreciate the influence of Auden. Vapor Trail: Stratospheric traces of our transitory flight Trails of condensation held in narrow paths of…
Read the whole commentI came across this poem as it was referenced by the lyricist for Rush, Neil Peart. He had lost his onlt daughter in a car crash and less then a year later his wife died of cancer(he claims a broken heart). I find the the words compelling when dealing with such tragic loss and appreciate the influence of Auden.
Vapor Trail:
Stratospheric traces of our transitory flight
Trails of condensation held
in narrow paths of white
The sun is turning black
The world is turning gray
All the stars fade from the night
The oceans drain away
Horizon to Horizon
memory written on the wind
Fading away, like an hourglass, grain by grain
Swept away like voices in a hurricane
In a vapor trail
Atmospheric phases make the transitory last
Vaporize the memories that freeze the fading past
Silence all the songbirds
Stilled by the killing frost
Forests burn to ashes
Everything is lost
Washed away like footprints in the rain
In a vapor trail
by Neil Peart
I too, think this is a wonderful and moving poem. But I would love to know who he talking about. Does anyone know?
Auden DID Not die in WWI and I cannot find any information that states this poem was written during that time period. If you could find that "little-know fact" and let me know I would appreciate it. During World War II Auden was granted temporary status as Major when he went with the U.S. Army to Germany to report on the psychological effects of bombing on civilians. From 1956 to 1961 he was a professor of poetry at Oxford and from 1954 a member of the American Academy.
i love this poem if anyone has got a copy they could send me asits been taken off the site nad i need it for my english essay thankyou send it to [email removed]
if im not wrong. this poem was written to his mentor, W.B Yeats when he died.
I think this poem isn't only a funeral blues...It's a sad song for a break up..It could be the right poem to express your grief after the end of a long- lasting love-story...
Could someone please tell me if the follow poem is by W.H.Auden. This Feeling Called Grief This heartache this sadness this feeling of pain to think I'll never hear your voice or see your face again The loneliness without you is beyond belief I can't come to terms with this feeling called grief It's so hard to describe just how I feel without you beside me time has only stood still I sit for hours in your favourite…
Read the whole commentCould someone please tell me if the follow poem is by W.H.Auden.
This Feeling Called Grief
This heartache this sadness
this feeling of pain
to think I'll never hear your voice
or see your face again
The loneliness without you
is beyond belief
I can't come to terms with
this feeling called grief
It's so hard to describe just how I feel
without you beside me
time has only stood still
I sit for hours in your favourite chair
talk to your photo
wishing you were there
I touch your clothes & start to weep
I hug your pillow
& try to sleep
Life must go on
I suppose it's true
but a day doesn't pass
without thinking of you
To treasure your memory
I must carry on
but nothing else matters
now that you've gone.
I thimk this poemis raw in its emotions. The meaning of the poem is clearly expressed by the poet and as such it is one of the most heart wrenching songs of grief i have ever heard. Funeral Blues is a strangely beautiful poem and one to absorb.
Thank you very much for finding the author of the very sad & beautiful poem,
I was told that " This Feeling Called Grief" was by W.H. Auden.
A friend's 27-year-old grandson died this week and this poem was in the worship service. She thought it terrible, anger at God. I had heard it read so beautifully in Four Weddings and A Funeral, did not react that way. When my husband of 55 years died, I marvelled that the world in general could remain so unchanged when mine had altered for the rest of my days until I meet him again. Does anyone know if Auden wrote this before or after his religious conversion? Thank you.
Funeral Blues allows the anger of loss...it is pure in its 'everyman' language and takes death off its alter of awe and distance...My brother and sister both died and I was obsessed with the 'whys'. I read 'Death Be Not Proud' to my students (NYC/BOED special ed HS in S.Bx) and had to teach that poem down and disect, language issues etc...but then I remembered Auden's Funeral and had my students act out the lines...it was amazing...we all are angry by everyday life continuing when death visits us, 'birds singing, bells ringing' etc. I revisit Funeral many times and find new images each time...I just wish it were on this site again...all my books are in storage...
This poem sent me into the tears when i first being reading it. It was so sad and the dog make me think of my dog. But a dog cannot bark with bone in mouth. Perhaps this shows disability in death? Aeroplanes circle-maybe this shows continuity whereas planes fly and stop. but in the first line clocks stop, which normally don't. Nothing can come to any good perhaps shows that periods of asking all the "whys",m because it says 'for now'. i like this poem a lot and this website is also very nice. keep reading and enjoy!
Im not making light of this wondrous poem, it encompeses all the things you would want to happen when a loved one dies, clocks should stop,planes should circle,black gloves should be worn.
And I would also add my own, "Lay down the straw,when the carriage passes by"
I have read his poem,written on Sept 1, 1939 on the invasion of Russia, by Germany, and it does forshadow our Sept 11th.
Wonderful site, so glad I found it.
To Skiewe from South Africa
>
I think actually, the poet is saying that the dog should be stopped from barking, by giving him a juicy bone. ie, give him a bone so that it stops barking.
And yes, it is an incredibly wonderful poem. It touches us all, for who hasn't lost a loved one to death?
All the best.
Mara from Scotland
This was an amazing poem ... we read it together as a class. At the end of the poem, we learned that the poet was actually homosexual but our teacher had not told us, in case we held any prejudices. It was shocking ... but his power over language and the reader's emotions wins over everything. I think he manages to capture the feelings of the ones who are left perfectly. He probably manages to do this so well because this really happened. And when you find out that something that's touched you in a major way is true, it touches you even more after that. That's what happened to me. I loved this poem ... made me feel with him.
Funeral Blues is about someone (maybe Wystan Hugh Auden) losing a loved one. It is a poem of passionate love for someone, for when they pass everything must stop as they did, die and never start again. After each stanza (paragraph) you the reader feels more involved and feel more grief for the person lost, it is a time of mourning.Throughout the Funeral Blues W.H.Auden hasn't used a lot of alliteration but in this…
Read the whole commentFuneral Blues is about someone (maybe Wystan Hugh Auden) losing a loved one. It is a poem of passionate love for someone, for when they pass everything must stop as they did, die and never start again. After each stanza (paragraph) you the reader feels more involved and feel more grief for the person lost, it is a time of mourning.Throughout the Funeral Blues W.H.Auden hasn't used a lot of alliteration but in this poem it works out perfectly. Instead he has used assonance to grab the attention of the reader/listener.
The feeling that W.H.Auden wants us as the reader to feel as we comprehend the poem is death at it's worst, to feel like nothing good will ever come again. This is best felt at the end of the poem when he says 'For nothing now can ever come to any good.'
He also wants us to feel and know what he must have felt with love never lasting for ever when he says this paragraph:
'He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my realk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong'
In my person feelings with losing someone i loved all i wanted to happen was everything stop i didn't want the world to wake and see me in such pain. For everything to just wither up and never come back out.
I believe that this poem is the best poem Auden has every written and i believe that many people would think the same, as it is worded in such a lucid manner and expressed so sensitively to he's audience.
R.I.P Wystan Hugh Auden
Always thinking of your emasculate work when i listen and read this poem.
Hi anyone got any degree level comments on this poem. Need to know if it is political in subject in any way as was written in the 1930's which is the period attributed to high political poetry particularly for audens work.
This is a beautiful poem and is going to be in my upcoming english exam so I have an analysis. He wants to deprive everyone and everything of any happiness or enjoyment e.g take the juicy bone away from the dog. He wants to silence everything except for the aeroplane because he wants to show how important this person's death is. The aeroplane also circles like a vulture would circle around a dead body. The word He has been put in capitals to show how important this dead person is. All in all this poem is trying to express the grief the person feels.
oh you're talking rubbish. This poem is not about love at all, I wish it was but it's not. It's a satire. It was written for a play and was used in the scene of a funeral of a corupted politician. It shows how artificial the grief is; 'stop the clocks, cut off the telepohone' - these are like orders, instructions, and the part with aeroplane - very pompous, exaggerated. Whole poem was supposed to show absurdity of the artificial grief after the death of the politician, that everything has to be great and posh and everyone has to pretend that they're sad. W. H. Auden wrote some great poems about love, but it's not one of those. sorry guys
The Netherlands
Hello there,
How are you?
I'm fine, because I've read this wonderful poem!
Greetings from the most desireable islands in the world,
Stein Grimsson
Funeral Blues
Actually initially the poem was written for a play but then Auden revised it and it was published in The Years Poetry in 1938, the original was 5 stanzas long whilst the revised version was only 4 stanzas and written to be sung by a sporano. Anyone who has seen the performance can feel the tangible sadness eminating from the poem. The fact that the poem was originally a satire does not distract from the tone and emotion in the revision of the poem. Also how do you explain that a poem only intended to parody political greif could touch the hearts of so many readers so deeply?
Funeral Blues
This poem is very interesting. I can relate to it in other ways, as i have lost someone in my family that was very dear to. just not a lover, but my gran... this poem brings back memories, and lots of good ones.