Monday, January 7, 2008

Funeral Blues

Heard this one in the movie "Four Weddings and A Funeral "..

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 for ever: 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.

--W.H. Auden

3 comments:

the_Skipper said...

lol.. I had put it up on my blog too a couple of months ago..not the entire thing but just the last four lines which I love.
Its a very bittersweet poem. I believe its popularity increased after it was included in Four Weddings.

S said...

oh...i never read it on ur blog...
how come?? u had removed it??
I started looking for the para tht i like most ... the last two..

Rahul Khare said...

Auden khatrus aadmi tha... guy has put immense depth into the lines!