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Summary & Analysis. The text of “Funeral Blues” has a very interesting history. It first appeared in a 1936 play that W. H. Auden cowrote with Christopher Isherwood. Set to blues-style music by the English composer Benjamin Britten, the song had a satirical effect within the context of the play. However, Auden soon revised the text, and ...
- Summary
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Themes
- Tone & Mood
- Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
- Historical Context
- About W.H. Auden
- Similar Poetry
‘Funeral Blues‘ by W.H. Audenis about the power of grief and the way that it influences people differently. For someone like the speaker who has suffered a loss, the world is transformed. But to everyone else, nothing changes. Time doesn’t slow down, and no one cares what’s happening. The indifference of the world plagues the speaker in this poem. ...
‘Funeral Blues,’ is a classic elegy. While the narrator does not go into specific detail about the loss suffered, the feelings of loss are very present. Auden structured the poem in four, four-line stanzas known as quatrains. These quatrains follow an AABB rhyming pattern, changing end sounds as the poet saw fit. It is an atypically somber poem and...
Within ‘Funeral Blues’ Auden makes use of several poetic techniques. These include but are not limited to caesura, anaphora, alliteration, enjambment, and hyperbole. 1. Caesura: The first, caesura, occurs when a line is split in half, sometimes with punctuation, sometimes not. For example, it occurs in the fourth line of the first stanza, as well a...
There are several important themes in W.H. Auden’s‘Funeral Blues’. These include grief/silence, isolation, and death. All three of these themes are tied together within the text as the speaker discusses what grief over the death of a loved one is like and how it separates one from the rest of the world. In the first lines, the speaker demands that ...
Being an elegy or typically a lament for a dead individual, ‘Funeral Blues’ builds up a sad and serious mood from the very beginning of the poem. It depicts the state of mind of a mourner who is unable to piece together the loss that he has suffered. Furthermore, the tone of the poemreflects a sense of anguish and bitter sadness for the people arou...
Stanza One
What a powerful way to start a poem. The idea of stopping the clocks serves two purposes here. First, it stops the noise that they potentially make, the annoying ticking sound, but also it signifies the stopping of time. When somebody dies their time is said to be up and this represents that. That is followed up with “cut off” the telephone, the poet could have used the word disconnect, but the idea of being “cut off” acts as a subtle double entendre. There is an ever-present theme of stoppin...
Stanza Two
Auden is meticulously clever in the language that he uses. Once again in this stanza, he makes reference to noises. This time though he describes the airplanes as “moaning”. The first thing of importance to note is that the sound of the word “moaning” sounds a lot like the word mourning. But, it is also a noise associated with death or dying. This clever word choice is a feature of Auden’s poetry and can be seen throughout ‘Funeral Blues’. The next line has an element of the surrealabout it....
Stanza Three
This stanza of ‘Funeral Blues’ talks explicitly about what the person they are mourning means to them. The opening line references the points of a compass and carries the suggestion of a loss of direction. The speaker is lost, physically and emotionally, without their partner. The next line furthers the importance of the deceased. It is the narrator’s way of saying that this person meant everything to them. The third line emphasizes this. By stating they have lost their “talk” and their “song...
‘Funeral Blues’ was first written in April 1936 for the play The Ascent of F6 by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood. It was meant to be a satiric piece lamenting the loss of a political figure appearing in the play. From then onwards, the text underwent several changes to become a four-stanza poem comprising four lines each. The text is referenc...
Wystan Hugh Auden was born in England but later became a citizen of the United States. He is a divisive figure although most scholars recognize his importance as one of the most renowned poets of the twentieth century they are often critical of his style and of his importance. Auden’s poems cover a wide range of topics from politics, religion, love...
Here is a list of poems that tap on similar themes and ideas present in Auden’s best-known work, ‘Funeral Blues’: 1. ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ by Walt Whitman: This poem is written in memory of one of the great American presidents, Abraham Lincoln who died in 1865. 2. ‘Lycidas’by John Milton: Milton wrote this piece to memorialize the death of his f...
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Whether you are struggling to find the perfect words to say at a funeral, feel grief for someone dear to you who has passed away, or are curious about the human reaction to loss, these poems about the death of a loved one can offer you insight, peace, and understanding.
The best Funeral Blues (Stop all the clocks) study guide on the planet. The fastest way to understand the poem's meaning, themes, form, rhyme scheme, meter, and poetic devices.
Jan 29, 2024 · Whether it is as a person who is grieving a loved one or someone who is staring down their own death, poems can stir up thoughts and emotions to help us all deal with the inevitable. Here is our pick of the 10 most beautiful and comforting poems about death and dying.
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On this list of touching and memorable poems, readers can find elegies for lost loved ones, family members, dear pets, and colleagues. These poets, from Oscar Wilde to Carol Ann Duffy, understand what it feels like to lose someone close to them, and they write about it thoughtfully and clearly.
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Aug 29, 2018 · In times of difficulty – such as when grieving the loss of a loved one – poetry can reflect emotion and make us feel less alone. Here are five poems that can provide comfort by offering differing perspectives on death.
