Funeral Blues
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.
Commentary
Strange, when you consider the width of his poetic range, that my two favourite Auden poems are both elegies…
First published as “Song IX” from ‘Twelve Songs’ (1936); reprinted under the present title in ‘Tell me the Truth about Love’ (1976). Most famous appearance? In the movie ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ (which fact does not, surprisingly enough, detract from the quality of the poem one bit).
— Thomas
Minstrels Links
We’ve run two Auden poems before (Only two? Yup, difficult as it may be to believe… the fact is, most of Auden’s work leaves me a bit cold – feel welcome to rectify the situation by means of guest submissions).
First, that beautiful elegy in praise of one of my favourite poets - In Memory of W. B. Yeats, at poem #50
And second, the almost equally good Musee des Beaux Arts, at poem #68
Both sites contain a fair bit of critical analysis, biographical info and the like.
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Rock Gagnon · 12 April 2000
Hi my name is Diane and I have a work to do on the poem: Stop All the Clocks written by W.H. Auden. I have looked on the internet to find information about the poem and I haven’t foud what I want. Could you explain what the poem is about ( meaning of the poem)
Thanks
Diane
Daniel Marsh · 17 July 2000
I don’t know how long ago that comment was posted (I’ve just started looking about the archive in detail myself) but 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. I don’t really know the circumstances behind his writing the poem (whether it was inspired by the death of a loved one– I have heard once that Auden was homosexual so its fairly likely that it was,) but he really makes you feel his grief and abandon with every verse. The final line is a summing line, wrapping up the poem neatly and giving the final beat to the funeral drum: for nothing now can ever come to any good. Grief distilled to its barest essence.
I agree with the fact that its use in a movie doesn’t diminish the quality of the poem. In fact, I have a hard time hearing it in any voice save one with a Scottish accent. But, frankly, as I’ve stated on another poem on this list (the first, in fact) that Poetry is a audial art, as well as a written one. Poems are meant to be read aloud, either in your own head, or to others in whatever medium you choose.
Alice Bain · 30 November 2000
I am delighted with this archive–and motivated to add my two cents worth of Auden poems…I tried to choose only one to send you, but my little Everyman edition falls open in two places. Strange, now I think about it, that my two favorite Auden poems are about sleep. Alley oop…
Alice Bain
Prime
Simultaneously, as soundlessly,
Spontaneously, suddenly
As, at the vaunt of the dawn, the kind
Gates of the body fly open
To its world beyond, the gates of the mind,
The horn gate and the ivory gate
Swing to, swing shut, instantaneously
Quell the nocturnal rummage
Of its rebellious fronde, ill-favoured,
Ill-natured and second-rate,
Disenfranchised, widowed and orphaned
By an historical mistake:
Recalled from the shades to be a seeing being, From absence to be on display,
Without a name or history I wake
Between my body and the day.
Holy this moment, wholly in the right,
As, in complete obedience
To the light’s laconic outcry, next
As a sheet, near as a wall,
Out there as a mountain’s poise of stone,
The world is present, about,
And I know that I am, here, not alone
But with a world, and rejoice
Unvexed, for the will has still to claim
This adjacent arm as my own,
The memory to name me, resume
Its routine of praise and blame,
And smiling to me is this instant while
Still the day is intact, and I
The Adam sinless in our beginning,
Adam still previous to any act.
I draw breath; that is of course to wish,
No matter what, to be wise.
To be different, to die and the cost,
No matter how, is Paradise
Lost of course and myself owing a death:
The eager ridge, the steady sea,
The flat roofs of the fishing village
Still asleep in its bunny,
Though as fresh and sunny still, are not friends But things to hand, this ready flesh
No honest equal, but my accomplice now,
My assassin to be, and my name
Stands for my historical share of care
For a lying self-made city,
Afraid of our living task, they dying
Which the coming day will ask.
(and also)
The Dream
Dear, though the night is gone,
Its dream still haunts to-day,
That brought us to a room
Cavernous, lofty as
A railway terminus,
And crowded in that gloom
Were beds, and we in one
In a far corner lay.
Our whisper woke no clocks,
We kissed and I was glad
At everything you did,
Indifferent to those
Who sat with hostile eyes
In pairs on every bed,
Arms round each other’s necks,
Inert and vaguely sad.
What hidden worm of guilt
Or what malignant doubt
Am I the victim of,
That you, then, unabashed,
Did what I never wished,
Confessed another love;
And I, submissive, felt
Unwanted and went out.
Bob Morrow · 19 January 2001
Hi
How can the appearance of any poem anywhere ever detract from it ? - (if it is not changed) - the point of writing it was that it would be read - or even better spoken - do you want poems forever consigned to dusty unopened volumes ?
I think not - because of this excellent internet resource - I have met “poets” who are very wary of the net - hmmmmmm - do they just want to sell books ? or do they want their poems to be seen and read ?
The more exposure any poetry gets - the better - the cream will rise to the top - with or without the opinion of “experts” and “critics”.
That’s why I like your resource so much - thanks a lot - keep up the good work.
bob morrow
Abraham Thomas · 28 January 2001
Hi Bob,
Interesting comment, and one with which (needless to say) I agree completely. I was merely making a snide comment about how the entertainment industry often manages to corrupt everything it touches, transforming heartfelt emotion into tawdry sentimentality; it’s a tribute to Auden’s genius that his poem transcends this would-be corruption and remains as poignant and as moving on screen as it does in print (or in any other medium).
cheers,
thomas.
Nick Robinson · 20 October 2001
I agree that the appearance of the poem in “Four weddings……..” did not detract from it at all. Th e context within which it was used was, in my opinion, apposite and John Hannahs delivery sublime. Nick Robinson.
RAMSEN · 4 May 2002
Le commentaire de ce poème svp. Merci d’avance. Je peux également fournir des dossiers ou informations.
Sarah Grace · 27 July 2002
i think this is one of the saddest, yet best poems i have heard, i just heard it read on Four Weddings And A Funeral and it had me in tears!
- Gracie
Henry · 21 January 2003
Hi,
[Note: I’m using an Emailer I never use, to respond, try]
I saw the poem after a keyword search, after re-seeing the movie.W.H. Auden brings even a “tough-guy” triathlete to his knees.
All the best,
-Henry
Louise Penn · 19 March 2003
Sorry - Mussolini died before poem was written. But who was the inspiration, not many of us have aeroplanes writing in the sky …..
Louise Penn · 19 March 2003
Random entry - comment made that this poem was written as response to Mussolini’s death. First two verses seem ok but last too and poets history not - any answers?
Waylandslayer · 9 June 2003
I think its absolutely beautiful. Speaks more about the way I feel about death than any other poem I’ve read. He leaves out all of the flowery words usually accompanied in an elegy and gets right down to the bare bones of it, that when you’ve lost someone you’ve loved, your heart is emptied, and nothing can fill it up again, not even the stars or the ocean.
Greg Homsany.
pertstuevner · 13 June 2003
Hi,
I must say that I had never heard of W. H. Auden until I had seen Four Weddings and a Funeral. I love poetry, but am not well versed with the names of writers, I just appreciate words and the way talented people put them together. This poem touched me deeply. My favorite verse….
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.
When I hear these words I can only pray that I too will feel this type of sorrow one day, for that will mean I loved.
Pert, in CA
Greg Stapp · 26 November 2003
Hello,
I just came across your excellent website celebrating one of my favorite poems “Stop All the Clocks.” I’m not one to go around correcting people all of the time, but I feel it’s important in this case: the line goes “Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood” (not woods) which makes for a better rhyme with “good” at the end.
Thanks for your website!
Cornelius Marx · 11 January 2004
Can you tell me who Funeral Blues was written about? Is it really Mussolini?
Cornelius
David Grandidge · 22 February 2004
im transforming this poem as part of my coursework i did some research and i can tell you that auden was homosexual and suffered the loss of his partner (no one famous) and wrote this poem to express his rief in the most subtle way because his sexuality was frowned upon
Christine Mills · 23 March 2004
Good afternoon. I heard this poem last night while surfing channels and stopped to hear it in its entirety. I had seen the move “Four Weddings . . .” years before but perhaps wasn’t as touched by the words. I’m so touched by the words now that I was inspired today to look up the poems of W. H. Auden, and his biography, on the Web. I’ve heard it said that when the student is ready, the teacher appears, whether the teacher is a Hollywood movie or a college classroom. I guess this student was ready and I’m very grateful I heard the words of this beautiful poem spoken exactly at the appropriate time - at a funeral!
Christine Mills
de familie Berré · 24 March 2004
Hi, I’m from Belgium and very fond of English literature and poetry. I love the Auden’s poetry for it is very pure and simple. As a reader you have the feeling that he’s able to formulate real human feelings. In my opinion he’s a real magician with words. My favourite poem is ‘If I could tell you…’ Greetings, Katelijne Berré
Glenn Harriman · 2 May 2004
That email address is not my own; I’m sure no one will have any reason to want to get in touch with me but just in case, the correct email is . The poem is not about Mussolini, nor his most well-known lover, Chester Kallman. With a small amount of research you can see that the poem was first published (but he could have written it in any of the years between 1922, when he first began writing poetry, and the year of its publication) in 1936. Auden meant Kallman sometime after he moved to the United States in 1939; and though that is blatant proof that “Funeral Blues” could not possibly be about Kallman, it is further proved by the fact that Auden died 2 years before Kallman. However, Auden did have a number of infatuations throughout his lifetime, like most of us, so it could have been written about another lover. The thought crossed my mind that the poem could be about his father, but he and his father were not close; at least not close enough for Auden to refer to him as is North, his South, his East and West. That’s all!
Andrew Lowenthal · 29 May 2004
I am not sure if my email is the right one as I’m using a different computer than I usually use but it’s Celine here. I have read many of Auden’s poems and some of his plays and this one has always been my favourite. It is the most beautiful, meaningful, truthful, poem about death to me. I am not one usually to cry, I don’t generally get moved by poems but this one made me cry. I read it years ago before I knew about W.H. Auden and it was the poem which got me interested in him. For some reason I think the name ‘Funeral Blues’ as a title does not fulfil the needs of this poem as a title. When someone dies you are not ‘blue’. When I read it the first time it was called song. If anyone has any suggestions as a title which they think fits it please put in a comment or let me know. I am not sure if the e-mail on this is right. my real email is:.
Oh, and to whoever it was who said poems cannot be ruined by being read out somewhere else. They can, if someone reads them out in scorn or something similar, surely it detracts majorly from the poem?
Bye ducks
Celine
M Blades & G Opie · 2 July 2004
Hi,
According to Joseph Warren Beach, and a number of other sources I have consulted, the first two stanzas of this poem appeared as a funeral song in Auden’s play The Ascent of F6, the three stanzas that originally followed in that form were replaced by the two you have here when Auden worked the piece up into a cabaret song for Hedli Anderson. In the play the funeral song was about a politician, in the song it is simply about the death of a fictitious woman’s lover.
In the play, the mood was a mix of allegory and burlesque, quite comic apparently. Monroe Spears describes the cabaret song as a parody… ‘[that] exaggerates the customary blues sentiment in lamenting a dead lover.’
I am writing a paper on the poem at the moment and had chosen it because I thought it was a sincere lament. I think there is a sense of disillusion inherent in the poem, but I now believe that it is chiefly satirical. It would seem that we often fail to consider that not everything poets have written is entirely serious. We dismiss the odd language of the opening stanzas of ‘Funeral Blues’ as the rantings of a distraught lover, but it would appear the author intended them to poke fun at the fuss of a public funeral for someone not much liked!
Hope this doesn’t spoil it too much for its fans - it wasn’t hard to find any of this out by the way, just head to your local university library - the books all tend to agree about it.
Greg Opie.
Ken Woody · 30 August 2004
used in movie “Love Actually”
nope “Four Weddings and a Funeral” should have read notes first I remembered incorrectly
Ken Woody · 30 August 2004
used in movie “Love Actually”
Jee Peng · 22 September 2004
dsfff
MOWIGmbH · 12 October 2004
For all German readers.
I tried to translate the poem into German.
Trauerblues
Lasst die Uhren nicht mehr schlagen, stoppt der Telefone Klang Und dann reißt den fetten Knochen aus des bellend Hundes Fang. Lasst verklingen die Pianos, auch die Trommeln schlaget leis’ Und die Trauernden soll’n klagen auf des Sarges letzter Reis’
Lasst die Flugzeuge sanft kreisen, grämend durch das Abendrot Und dann an den Himmel schreiben, vernehmt die Worte: Er ist tot. Schmückt die Tauben auf den Plätzen, fein mit krepppapiernen Kragen Lasst den Schutzmann in den Straßen, schwarze Baumwollhandschuh tragen.
Er war mir Norden, Süden, Osten und auch Westen immerzu War der Woche harte Arbeit und des Sonntags stille Ruh. Er war mein Reden und mein Singen, war mein Tag und auch die Nacht Dachte Liebe währet ewig, aber das war falsch gedacht.
Sternenschein kann nicht mehr trösten, löscht sie aus, hier an dem Grab Verpackt den Mond am Firmament, auch die Sonne decket ab Zerstört die Meere bis zum Grund und den Wald mit Feuerglut. Denn seit heute nun wirt nimmer, nimmer wieder etwas gut.
W. H. Auden (by Klaus Agten) © Klaus Agten, Münster 10.10.2004
**Ruthie** · 4 November 2004
Hiya
I love the poem funeral blues. I am still only in school but I watched four weddings……. and i was deeply touched by the poem, i loved it so much that I went on a website about the movie and I looked up the author and the poem. I use it as my msn name and I love the bit :The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, AND :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. I love it. I just thought I’d add that
Thankyou
Ruth
LINDA S ROACH · 1 February 2005
I am just learning french and i just wanted to say: Tu est le mendre, and that : Tu est mes meillure amis, est pour l’anglais tu vous ce’st tres magnifique, just excuse me if i’m am saying something offensive or wrong because as i said i am just learning.Actually my french teacher is Mme Powers at South Jefferson central school and i am in french 2.
sameer_bora · 23 March 2005
Also would be displayed in the memorial at Heysel, due to be unveiled in Brussels.
Quite an apt time, considering the Liverpool - Juventus Champions League match to be held soon (Apr 2005).
More on this link:
Monument to mark Heysel disaster
[broken link] http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=328522&cc=5739
borax
Zenaida Vega · 24 March 2005
I like your site. I loved W.H. Auden’s Funeral Blues, I’m just curious who it was written about!
Tiarnan.OCorrian · 31 March 2005
I believe “Epitaph on a Tyrant”, rather than “Funeral Blues” is about Mussolini:
“Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after, And the poetry he invented was easy to understand. He knew human nature like the back of his hand, And was greatly interested in armies and fleets. When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter, And when he cried, the little children died in the streets.”
Andrea Strappa · 3 April 2005
I made a musical setting for “Funeral Blues”. This is a very great poem. If you wont, there is an mp3 in my site (Mary O’Connor is the singing): www.andrea-strappa.it
any comment is appreciate
Andrea Strappa
Anna Maccario · 14 June 2005
commento della poesia Funeral Blues
Melayna · 22 June 2005
You know I must agree with the person who said that this poem should come from a Scotsman. I lived 37 years with a “bloody Scotsman”, my mother. She was a GREAT lady. I heard this poem from the movie “Four Weddings…” and my heart stopped, those spoken words rang true to her form, it described exactly how I was feeling, I had lost my mother to cancel just a few short months before. You see she was “my North, my South, my East and West…” I and my daddy don’t want the stars now and we’ve packed up our moon and took down our sun and there are the days we feel that “nothing now can ever come to any good.” I must also agree with another reader on the point of the “sweep up the wood”, not woods. A Scotsman would not have stated it plural. It is a strangely beautiful poem and one to absorb. If you have felt this way you truely have felt LOVE. So how can it not be beautiful. I leave you my mother’s favorite saying…“Ta Ta Love”
smallcheryl · 30 November 2005
I heard this poem for the first time in 4 weddings…after my husband died - It is totally fitting - a loss of love and friendship. A loss. My heart felt like this at the time of his death.
Eve Bernshaw · 14 December 2005
thank you for your site..for being there to capture audens incredible, funeral blues. I too agree totally with morrows comment re poets work published on the net. so be it..let it pour out, a gift given, openly, never meant to horde from the public eye. why else would inspiration come forth but not to be seen? thanks for your site….
Eve Bernshaw
Andy Bickel · 27 December 2005
The Boswell Sisters recorded a song in 1932 titled “Stop The Sun, Stop
The Moon(My Man’s Gone). I have long assumed that the song was
inspired by Auden’s poem, but the song was recorded five years before
he published. Auden was a member of ASCAP, could he have penned the
lyrics for the Boswell’s song or could he have been influenced by their
song ? The two seem too similar to not be related.
James C · 16 January 2006
I studied Auden in school but that was long ago. My library contains a collection of his poems; cc 1957… by which time Auden had not yet written “Funeral Blues”. There is, hovever, a shorter work: “Roman Wall Blues” which might be of interest to this group. I am glad that I stumbled upon it last night.
_______________
Over the heather the wet wind blows,
I’ve lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose.
The mist creeps over the hard grey stone,
My girl’s in Tungria; I sleep alone.
Aulus goes hanging around her place
I don’t like his manner, I don’t like his face.
Piso’s a Christian, he worships a fish.
There’s be no kissing if he has his wish.
She gave me a ring but I diced it away;
I want my girl and I want my pay.
When I’m a veteran with only one eye
I shall do nothing but look at the sky.
W.H. Auden
__
This was a fine poet with a boundless imagination. James C. Courtney
Oralb148 · 2 April 2006
My name is Blaise.
I have never been one to pay much attention to poetry but “Stop the Clocks” made my ears mind and heart perk up. I bought the movies just for the poem! To me the message is clear and profound. I have committed it to memory but have difficulty in recitation because of the emotion it sparks in me.. it makes me cry and happy simultaneously..it’s very hard to explain.
Laura · 18 April 2006
I read this poem out at my grandads funeral 18 months ago. It was the hardest moment i have ever gone through but i knew he would have been extremely proud (and everybody said i couldn’t do it as it would be too hard) While reading it out i looked to the back of the room and saw the funeral director wipe a tear away from his eye-i think that just about sums up just how emotional this poem is and how the words ring true to so many people.
damianb · 14 June 2006
Hi everyone. I studied this poem a long time ago, but it is the only poem I have ever been so moved by as to unwittingly commit to memory. (I have never seen Four weddings and a Funeral ;) ) Though I’m certain my theory won’t be accepted by you all, hear me out, I feel that FUNERAL BLUES is a mock elegy - that Auden was suffering from a break-up rather than bereavement. There is a certain cynical bite to the first two stanzas. The scene is set for a funeral for a very important figure, like the death of a king or queen, but I think the only death was that of the relationship which Auden treasured so much. I think the clue is in the third stanza: “I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong”. If someone dies, does love die? I think, in the context of a genuine elegy, that the line would be inappropriate, but in the context of love gone wrong, it reflects his perceived naivety. The final stanza (the most beautiful and haunting lines that I know) shows the natural world falling around him, hyperbolized in a way that I feel is saddeningly cynical rather than grieving. I’m no expert, but I’d love to hear from someone who is regarding this interpretation. It seems to fit with his homosexuality, in that he could not openly discuss the emotional turmoil that he felt because another man had left him, but it would be quite acceptable to mourn for a dead friend, be they male or female. If you have any thoughts, don’t hesitate to email me at
Damian Brauchli
James Blackwell · 25 June 2006
oui madam. quel est super, qu est ce-que tu avez avec les fromages? xx
James Blackwell · 25 June 2006
are you related to Auden? Your narratuve voice is so simliar. xx
Helen Bowden · 29 June 2006
W.H. Auden was gay. He’s probably writing about a lover and being metaphorical about the aeroplanes.
My favourite EVER poem. Gets me every time.
X. Wang · 21 November 2006
One of the most moving poems by Auden.
Steven Vydelingum · 1 December 2006
Absolutely love this poem Funeral Blues and was wondering if anyone can tell me which book of WH Auden’s that it has been published in?
Thanks in Advance
CAROLINE CHELTON · 6 December 2006
hy,
i need to know what the meaning of this poem is, i am studyin this poem as part as my GCSE coursework. i have to write an essay on it can any one help me?
RBwrites · 21 December 2006
I first read this poem when I was thirty-three. I’m fifty-eight now. It still holds the same impact, emotion, dread and understanding for me. A comfort, of course, and a sharing of a dreadful knowledge. Randy Burns.
Jan Humphries · 23 December 2006
Without the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral, I would not have known this poem, so that in itself is testament to the worth of exposure of poetry in all media. I was moved to look for the poem on the internet as it summed up my feelings exactly on the death of a dearly loved one - stop the world, everyone.
As in an earlier comment, I find myself reading it in my head in a Scottish accent! I just wish I had come across it sooner. Jan
Kathleen M. Gildea · 9 January 2007
Hi Diane:
I was just googling “Funeral Blues” by Auden for some personal reasons and saw your post. You asked what this means. I first heard this poem (as I suppose many did) in the movie “Four weddings & a funeral” several years ago. I was completely taken with the words and felt I ws having a near out-of-body experience as I was trying to ingest the words. For me - not having known of/ being familiar with Auden …… it took me immediately back to a place in time when I was 15 years old; my paternal grandmother had died (the person I was most likely closest to in my life - lived next door/ saw her every day of my life) …… the early evening of her funeral day (early May) I was across the yard, sitting on the porch steps of my own house……………. the little independent grocery across the street – the milkman came and delivered his milk for the next day (left it outside overnight!!); followed by the bread truck (did same – overnight!!)…. I was sitting there watching all the traffic pass by and – first time in my young life – thinking “how can these people be doing all of this.. don’t they know my grandmother is dead?” I went on about my life and grew up, married, moved, had children, years passed, etc. etc. and then one day, many years later, I’m sitting in a movie theater many states away from that young girl’s thoughts — and BOOM – here’s this poem in the middle of this amusing movie!!!! And I was transported back to that time – and for the first time felt SOMEONE really knew that feeling too. THAT’s what that poem means.
I have subsequently requested from my longest and dearest friend that she see to it that this poem is read at my own funeral one day ….. I feel it will have meaning and significance to my now grown children and rapidly growing grandchildren …. and they will, hopefully, know that someone knew how they might be feeling. again, THAT’s what that poem means.
kathleen
Ginny · 14 February 2007
I love this poem. My husband died seven years ago and this work of art always touches me deeply. thank you for this web site. It took me a while to find it. I am on my way to obtain a book of Auden’s poetry. Thank you, again.
Ginny Giosa, Long Island, NY
Crabill Jane MS · 20 March 2007
I rewatched “Four Weddings and a Funeral” this weekend and wanted to know more about the poem.
My guess was that it might be by Dylan Thomas. I appreciated the added information about the satirical
nature and its use as a cabaret song, but I prefer to regard it as an expression of genuine grief. It touches
the heart. There’s another poem about death comparing the death of a young girl to a flower plucked it its beauty before it withers that resonated with me when the high school students were killed in Columbine (the name of a flower.) If I can track down that particular poem, I will submit it to this web archive.
Cris Espinoza · 10 July 2007
I first heard this poem in the movie, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. It’s been on my mind ever since. Now, my fiance is in a coma and is not doing very well. It is fitting that this piece is on my mind for if she goes, my world will go black along with her and “nothing good will ever come”.
Reception · 10 December 2007
I am excited to have found this site and to read the other comments on Auden’s elegies and other poems. What brought me here is that I was listening to CBC’s Ideas, Michael Enright’s Files, last night while waiting in the car for my daughter’s bus to arrive. He included a clip of someone reading “Funeral Blues”. It was haunting. Could the context of the reading been Four Weddings and a Funeral? I was intrigued enough to go searching on the Internet today, and delighted that I did. I studied W.H. Auden at University years ago. I found him too mocking and high brow for my tastes. Perhaps I was too young at the time to fully appreciate him. I like him better now. This has been fun. Cheers!
John Ehlers · 20 February 2008
The hip hop artist RZA included this poem (spoken by someone with an scottish accent) on “Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture” before a track commemorating the death of Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
Rap music by people with talent can be very cerebral but probably won’t ever count as real poetry, rhyming as much as it does.
Annette Schilz · 5 March 2008
Sorry not sure what Diane means about asking what this poem is about? It’s about death of a loved one. When you love someone so much unconditionally. I don’t know how else to explain it to you Diane. I guess maybe you never lost anyone in your life that mean more to you than anything else…in fact more than living yourself in an odd way. Nothing was wanted anymore..that’s what the poem is about…death of a loved one and nothing the resembled happiness was not wanted during the grieving process.
Hope that helped..and bless you forever and always not to ever go through losing a loved one. Take care,
susan_elbert · 2 May 2008
My mother died of cancer Wednesday. The funeral is Sunday. With apologies to Auden, I’m using this stunning poem, with personalized changes, to express my grief. There is simply no other in its class.
Susan Tolk Elbert
Miami Beach
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