The 3rd Poem

Funeral Blues
by: W.H. Auden
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 airplanes 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

In this poem, clearly W.H. Auden is mourning the death of a love one. Although this poem seems quite obvious, there is much more depth to it than what one may notice at first. Through further inspection, I noticed that when Auden says, "I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong," that he is somewhat bitter about the loss of this loved one. In the beginning the tone is somewhat sad, but yet content. Then, however, the tone changes to a more bitter and pessimistic stance. Auden seems to feel like that without this loved one, nothing really matters anymore and that the world may as well just give up. This poem has many different underlying tones and emotions in it, plus a very classic rhyme scheme that adds to its simplistic facade.