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Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden   
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Funeral Blues

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  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.

W.H. Auden


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  Comments about this poem (Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden )
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  Rob Routledge  (9/27/2009 2:24:00 PM)

one thing that has always stuck me about this poem is the immense feeling of despair that it portrays, it offers no redemption at all
i too agree, the recitation in 'four weddings' was the high point of the film (it was very apt)
it makes me realise how precarious our lives are that when we lose someone we love so much our lives can become so utterly meaningless
  Mustafa Ghuneim  (9/15/2009 11:00:00 AM)

your poem is featured here http: //news.deviantart.com/article/93410/
  Songezo Samson  (8/22/2009 8:41:00 PM)

A lesson to be drawn would be to show appreation to our loved ones while they are still alive
  Romy Lambert  (6/13/2009 5:56:00 AM)

Auden got it so right. When the love of his life died so did the world, everything -from time, sounds and movement, points of the compass, and the universe - ceased to be. That's love. And it was beautiful.
  Nicola Berry De Salgado  (3/4/2009 4:41:00 PM)

In the context of Four Weddings and A Funeral, this poem, for me, is jam-packed full of emotion. I believe that for W.H. Auden to have written it and expressed himself as he did, he must have experienced the loss of someone very close to him!
To be able to write so succinctly is one of my dreams..........
  Tshepo Fokane  (11/24/2008 4:03:00 AM)

its funny how everyone else can just move on. u know like a person didnt even exist. it makes me so angry at life and at the world. i guess its a poem to keep you going when you feel like you need to scream and get everybody to admit that it does hurt and that life just keeps on living for everybody else. i envy auden because he writes what all of us want to say but we lack the vocab or the finesse to put it so poignantly.
  Zoe Lawson  (8/14/2008 1:21:00 PM)

surely any peom is what it means to u and how it touches you. it's not a competition to see how much someone knows about the poet! the poem was written and it brings about emotions in people. it's an amazing poem which everyone can relate to. just enjoy the poem
  Mariah Lasley  (8/7/2008 3:58:00 PM)

Actually, Marc and Cynthia -

W. H. Auden was gay. He wrote this right after his lover died. Its a sad story.
  Marc Baumback  (7/20/2008 5:45:00 AM)

Cynthia -

You are wrong. The poem, whilst absolutely haunting and powerful (I have used it myself at a Eulogy) , is a satirical piece of work by Auden about the death of a politician.

Auden was a homosexual, hence the use of this poem and all of its four stanzas in the film 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' by the gay characters. He was/is an icon for not only those that love his work, as I do, but for the gay community as a brilliant example of someone that followed his beliefs (pro - Nazi, too) .

Notwithstanding - its great that we all love it. TRy reading about Auden and learn more.

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