Funeral Blues (1938)

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 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.

“Funeral Blues” is a famous elegy by British poet Wystan Hugh Auden (1907 – 1973). It explores the isolating and overwhelming nature of grief. The poem was originated in 1936 as a satirical, comedic piece about a dead politician in the play The Ascent of F6, written by Auden and Christopher Isherwood. While respected in literary circles, the poem reached a massive global audience after being read in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral. It has since become a highly popular reading for contemporary memorial services.