Literature Project #59 W. H. Auden 'Funeral Blues'

59 days into my year long daily Literature project. Had to do it sometime! Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden.

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 wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good."

[Casablanca]

I do love this poem and I do love clocks!

[Kathy]

A lovely old fashioned clock. Quite a depressing poem in my humble opinion.

[amyK]

Will admit my first exposure to this poem was in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. I like it very much and I like the included shadow in your clock photo.