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 in the sky the message He is Dead,
Put crêpe 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.
WH Auden 1938
Pic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AudenVanVechten1939.jpg
I first heard this poem on the film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, which undoubtedly made it a very famous poem! But it inspired me to investigate Auden!
For me, the images in this are so concrete, the grief is enormous! But the most poignant line, in this poem is “He was my north, my South, my East and West!” Wouldn’t it be so easy to have said, “He was my world!” ?
Happy reading today!
rawformorelanguage 
Wow! That’s amazing, thanks for sharing. Made me thirsty to gulp in more of his poems..these lines really touched me-
“The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun”
Happy weekend 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know! You can feel the grief oozing out of this poem, can’t you? Glad you shared my enjoyment! Thank you for stopping by! Best wishes, Jacqui 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s a similarity in the likes of poems between us i guess, my favorite one too being a griefy one by Mathew Arnold..hope you’ll enjoy that too.
Stay smiling 🙂 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, yes, I remember Mathew Arnold! I popped over to read it on your blog! I love the repetition in it….Jacqui 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Jacqui, am happy to have your presence on my small-blog.. Hope you be doing great today 🙂
Enjoy the Sunday…the fun-day
😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it until I got to “He was my north…”. You’re right, that’s the most striking line in it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It shows Auden’s great skill, I think! Definitely a master! What is your favourite poem? Best wishes, Jacqui 🙂
LikeLike
By Auden, you mean? I don’t know his poems but now I’m curious to look them up. Thanks for inspiration.
LikeLiked by 1 person