The funeral blues. Funeral Blues: A Literary Review of the Poem: [Essay Example], 657 words GradesFixer 2022-12-29
The funeral blues
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The funeral blues, also known as "Stop All the Clocks," is a poem written by W. H. Auden in 1936. It is a poignant and emotional depiction of grief and loss, expressing the deep sense of sadness and emptiness that comes with the death of a loved one.
The poem begins with the lines "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, / Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone," which immediately set the tone of the poem as one of despair and longing. The speaker is telling us that the world should come to a halt because of the grief they are experiencing. The clocks represent the passage of time, and the speaker wants them to stop because they cannot bear the thought of life continuing without their loved one. The telephone represents communication and connection with the outside world, and the speaker wants it cut off because they do not want to be disturbed or comforted by anyone else. The dog, barking with a juicy bone, represents the distractions and pleasures of everyday life, and the speaker wants it silenced because they cannot find joy in anything anymore.
The speaker goes on to say that "the stars are not wanted now: put out every one; / Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun," again expressing a desire for the world to stop functioning as normal. The stars, moon, and sun are all symbols of the natural world, and the speaker wants them gone because they cannot find solace or beauty in nature anymore.
The poem continues with the lines "For nothing now can ever come to any good," expressing a feeling of hopelessness and despair. The speaker believes that nothing in the world has meaning or value anymore because their loved one is gone.
In the final stanza, the speaker concludes with the lines "Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead / Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead," which paints a vivid and heart-wrenching image of the speaker's grief. The aeroplanes, circling overhead and scribbling on the sky, represent the public and formal acknowledgement of the death, and the message "He Is Dead" is a stark and final reminder of the irreparable loss the speaker has suffered.
Overall, "Funeral Blues" is a powerful and moving poem that captures the raw emotions of grief and loss. It speaks to the universal experience of losing someone we love, and the feelings of sadness, emptiness, and hopelessness that come with it.
Funeral Blues Summary
I thought that this poem was very well written. Therefore, they also need to be shut down. On a literal level we know tying black crepe mourning bows around the necks of the thousands of doves who flock in public places, like a city square, is impossible. Its excitement about having a juicy bone to gnaw should not be allowed to disturb the silence. Return to Top Funeral Blues rhyme scheme The rhyme scheme of 'Funeral Blues' corresponds with the spoken sounds used in each of its rhyming couplets.
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Funeral Blues
Henceforth, there will be no star gazing, walking in the moonlight, picnickingin the woods, or sunbathingat the beach. Wherever he turned, he was there: at every compass point. An initial version of the poem originally appeared in a 1936 play: In the context of the play the poem's purpose was to illustrate the extreme and often absurd claims that are sometimes made about a public figure once they are dead: how they become significantly greater than they were in life. Part of the paradox of this opening, however, is that the tone and pace of the poem seem so rushed, as if time is running out for the speaker as it has already run out for the corpse. From the point of view of the bereaved person, the world, and everything in it, should immediately stop.
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Funeral Blues
Said aloud they share the same final sound: teleph one and b one. It's a devastating reality that no amount of love, however strong or enduring, can change. Just as time has stopped for the deceased, time has slowed to a stop for the speaker, unable to come to terms with the loss. Not only that, but also it shows confirmation of his friends death. From the start of the poem to the end, the speaker was very mad and sad that his friend was dead.
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Funeral Blues [aka Stop All the Clocks] WH Auden's poem
The airplanes are "moaning," as if expressing their own sadness over the person being grieved for. During the second part of the poem, it shows the speakers personal view. This poem s topic has to do with someone close to the narrator dyeing possibly a lover. In "Funeral Blues," W. And maybe get some tissues for this last one: Gayatri Devi on Seeing the buzzing around Jane lying prostate in bed, I felt myself on the set of the Ars Moriendi, the small medieval manual featuring eleven woodcuts on how to die the Good Death.
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W. H. Auden
In the third paragraph, he equates the four directions to his partner and how his working week, as well as the Sundays, belonged to the partner, so close was their association. It may not be entirely clear what or who the "public doves" are. An iamb is a pair if syllables where the second syllable is stressed or emphasized. 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. It is such that the reader cannot escape it, just as the speaker cannot. The rhyme scheme for this stanza is CC DD. The silence continues to grow with each line.
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"The Funeral Blues" by WH Auden
. . They can become their direction or the days of their week. . . Lines 1 and 2 end with tele phone and bone.
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Funeral Blues by W H Auden
And because there are two lines with that sound, the second is b one , it is written as AA. To Auden, all signs of life such as the heavenly bodies, the telephone, piano, oceans, and woods are interfering with his grief. Put crepe bows round the white necks of public doves, Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. As a young man he was influenced by the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost, as well as William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Old English verse. In 1994 the hugely successful English romantic comedy The funeral, referenced in the film's title, included a heartbreakingly poignant reading of 'Funeral Blues' by actor John Hannah in the role of Mathew mourning the death of his partner Gareth. The word 'Blues' in the title links the poem to the blues musical genre and to the expression 'to have the blues'. It shows that the speaker is in a phase of acceptance of his friends death.
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Literary Analysis of Devices Used in Funeral Blues
If it were us who had suffered this loss, would we feel similarly? 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 for ever: I was wrong. Lines 1 and 2 end with West and rest. The rhyme scheme for this stanza is EE FF. It asks, how can anything, or anyone, possibly continue to exist? Auden Funeral Blues by W. The last line of the poem, 'For nothing now can ever come to any good. It is not altogether surprising to read such a poem from Auden, given it is not the only one he wrote of the variety. .
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Funeral Blues: A Literary Review of the Poem: [Essay Example], 657 words GradesFixer
The silence is accompanied by cutting out the joys in life. The silence experienced by the reader parallels the same silence sought out or felt by the speaker. Perry considers this intentional, saying it feels almost as though the poem itself becomes "momentarily distracted by grief". . HH Return to Top Figures of speech and more: Funeral Blues Knowing a little about how and why a poem works can be helpful toward deepening your understanding and appreciation of it.
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