“Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden: A Critical Analysis

Introduction: “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

“Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden first appeared in 1936 within The Ascent of F6, a satirical play co-written by Auden and Christopher Isherwood. Later, Auden included a revised, standalone version of the poem in his 1940 anthology, Another Time, where it became widely known. The poem captures the depth of grief and despair following a profound loss, using stark imagery and a rhythm that mirrors the somber tone of mourning. Auden’s portrayal of love and loss resonates deeply as he evokes the feeling of emptiness that follows a loved one’s death, universalizing personal sorrow through vivid expressions like “Stop all the clocks” and “He was my North, my South, my East and West.” The poem’s popularity largely stems from its accessibility, emotional intensity, and the power with which it captures the desolation that accompanies loss, appealing to readers experiencing their own grief and establishing its place as one of Auden’s most cherished works.

Text: “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 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.

Annotations: “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

Line	Annotation
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone	The speaker wants to halt time and silence communication, emphasizing the impact of grief by suspending ordinary functions and suggesting that life has stopped with the death.
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone	The silencing of even natural sounds, like a dog barking, illustrates the desire for complete stillness, reflecting how grief often demands silence and reverence.
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum	The speaker calls for muted sounds, as in a funeral procession, creating an atmosphere of solemnity and respect, conveying a world that has become quieter in mourning.
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come	A direct statement acknowledging the presence of death and the need for a funeral ritual, inviting people to grieve openly.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead	Auden uses airplanes as a modern symbol of grief, suggesting the death’s impact is so profound that even the skies should mourn.
Scribbling on the sky the message ‘He is Dead’	The message in the sky emphasizes the vastness of the loss, conveying that everyone should be aware of this profound personal tragedy.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves	Traditionally, doves represent peace and innocence; here, dressing them in mourning attire symbolizes the universality and solemnity of the occasion.
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves	Extending grief to even small details, Auden uses the imagery of uniformed policemen in mourning attire to show societal recognition of the loss.
He was my North, my South, my East and West	The deceased was central to the speaker’s life, representing every direction and providing guidance; his absence leaves the speaker lost and directionless.
My working week and my Sunday rest	The speaker emphasizes how all aspects of life—both mundane and restful—were shaped by the presence of the loved one, intensifying the sense of void.
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song	Every hour and every form of expression was entwined with the loved one, showcasing the profound emotional and existential dependence the speaker had on them.
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.	The speaker expresses a poignant realization that, despite his belief in love’s permanence, it has ultimately been cut short by death.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one	The speaker’s devastation is so complete that even natural wonders like stars seem irrelevant, emphasizing the totality of their loss and sorrow.
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun	These exaggerated requests reflect the speaker’s despair and desire to remove all sources of light and joy, symbolizing an overwhelming hopelessness in the absence of the loved one.
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood	The speaker’s grief is so profound that even vast, timeless aspects of nature should be erased, as nothing holds value without the deceased.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.	The final line reflects a state of despair and nihilism, suggesting that the speaker believes life has lost all meaning and potential for goodness with the loved one’s passing.

Literary And Poetic Devices: “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

Device	Example	Explanation
Alliteration	“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone”	Repetition of initial consonant sounds in “clocks” and “cut” and “telephone,” creating a rhythmic flow that emphasizes the speaker’s desire to stop all activity.
Allusion	“Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves”	Implies a traditional mourning practice, where people wear black attire or gloves to signify respect for the deceased, connecting the personal loss to a larger social observance.
Anaphora	“My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song”	Repetition of “my” at the beginning of each phrase emphasizes the intimacy and centrality of the loved one in every aspect of the speaker’s life.
Assonance	“Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead”	The repetition of vowel sounds, particularly “o” in “moaning” and “overhead,” contributes to the mournful tone and the drone-like sound of the airplanes.
Caesura	“He was my North, my South, my East and West”	A pause in the middle of the line created by the comma allows the reader to absorb the depth of loss, adding a reflective moment to the poem’s rhythm.
Consonance	“Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun”	Repetition of consonant sounds, particularly “n” and “m,” creates a somber and resonant sound that reinforces the poem’s mood of desolation.
Diction	“Scribbling on the sky the message ‘He is Dead'”	Word choices like “scribbling” give a casual tone to something profound, amplifying the tragedy and creating a sense of hopelessness and irreversibility.
Elegy	Entire poem	“Funeral Blues” is an elegy, a poem that laments the dead, reflecting sorrow and personal loss in a structured, contemplative manner.
Enjambment	“Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone”	The line flows without pause into the next, symbolizing an unstoppable flow of emotions and adding to the rhythm of the speaker’s continuous, uninterrupted grief.
Epistrophe	“My North, my South, my East and West”	Repetition of “my” emphasizes the personal relationship with the deceased, making the loss feel more intimate and specific.
Hyperbole	“Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun”	An exaggeration to convey the speaker’s intense sorrow, suggesting that even cosmic elements lose their purpose without the deceased, showing the vastness of the loss.
Imagery	“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone”	Evocative images of stopping time and silencing communication represent the disorienting effect of grief, helping readers feel the speaker’s desire to halt life itself.
Irony	“I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong”	The expectation that love is eternal is subverted by death, which ends the relationship, capturing the painful irony of life’s impermanence and love’s fragility.
Juxtaposition	“My working week and my Sunday rest”	The contrast between “working week” and “Sunday rest” highlights the completeness of the relationship, as the deceased was present in both labor and relaxation.
Metaphor	“He was my North, my South, my East and West”	The speaker compares the deceased to cardinal directions, symbolizing guidance, stability, and purpose, indicating that the deceased was the center of the speaker’s life.
Mood	Entire poem	The mood of the poem is somber, reflecting profound grief and despair, amplified by the language, imagery, and structure, inviting the reader to share in the speaker’s sorrow.
Personification	“Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead”	The airplanes are given the human quality of “moaning,” expressing grief and amplifying the sense of communal mourning and sorrow.
Repetition	“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone”	Repeated command structure at the beginning of lines reinforces the speaker’s need to control and halt the world to honor the deceased, reflecting intense grief.
Simile	“Silence the pianos and with muffled drum”	Comparison to a “muffled drum” evokes the image of a funeral procession, giving readers a sensory experience of the quiet and solemn atmosphere.
Symbolism	“Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood”	The ocean and wood represent vastness and continuity; discarding them symbolizes the speaker’s view that life and nature now feel meaningless without the loved one.

Themes: “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

1. Grief and Loss: The poem is a profound expression of grief, with the speaker confronting the all-encompassing pain of losing a loved one. Auden’s language reflects the depth of this sorrow, beginning with the command, “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,” indicating a desire to halt time and silence the world in recognition of the death. The loss is so immense that even natural elements, like stars, the moon, and the sun, are deemed unnecessary, as the speaker suggests to “Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.” This line conveys a sense that nothing can continue or hold meaning without the deceased, underscoring how grief can render everything else in life meaningless.
2. Love and Dependency: The poem depicts a love so powerful that it becomes the central point of the speaker’s life, a guiding force and source of stability. The lines “He was my North, my South, my East and West” show that the loved one represented every direction and grounding aspect for the speaker, embodying their sense of purpose and identity. This dependency is further emphasized with “My working week and my Sunday rest,” where the speaker suggests that the loved one was present in every facet of life, both in times of labor and in moments of peace. The theme of love here is not just a romantic attachment but a deep reliance on the presence of another for a sense of completeness.
3. Isolation and Despair: Auden conveys the speaker’s sense of isolation after their loss, an emotional state where the world feels hollow and detached. This isolation is portrayed through the silencing of daily life: “Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, / Silence the pianos and with muffled drum.” These lines suggest a longing to quiet the world entirely, to create a space that mirrors the emptiness the speaker feels inside. As the poem progresses, the speaker’s despair grows to a desire to eliminate natural forces, such as the ocean and the forest (“Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood”), implying that even nature is undeserving of continuity without the loved one’s presence.
4. The Futility of Life: Auden’s speaker experiences an overwhelming sense of futility following the loved one’s death, captured in the closing line, “For nothing now can ever come to any good.” This line reflects the nihilistic view that life holds no further purpose or possibility for joy without the deceased. The repetition of lines calling for the dismantling of the natural world, including the stars, moon, and sun, further reinforces this feeling. These cosmic elements, symbols of constancy and continuity, are now futile in the speaker’s eyes, as their personal world has collapsed, rendering life’s usual cycles and beauties meaningless.

Literary Theories and “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

Literary Theory	Explanation	References from the Poem
Psychoanalytic Theory	This theory, based on Freud’s ideas, examines the subconscious mind and emotional responses. “Funeral Blues” explores the speaker’s intense grief and psychological despair.	The speaker’s call to “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” suggests a desire to freeze time, reflecting a subconscious struggle to process and accept the death.
Existentialist Theory	Existentialism focuses on life’s meaning (or lack thereof) and individual experience, especially in the face of death. Auden’s poem contemplates the futility of existence after loss.	“For nothing now can ever come to any good” captures existential despair, as the speaker questions the value and purpose of life without the deceased.
New Criticism	New Criticism emphasizes close reading of the text itself, examining structure, language, and literary devices without considering the author’s biography.	Devices like alliteration (“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone”) and metaphor (“He was my North, my South…”) contribute to the poem’s cohesive expression of grief.

Critical Questions about “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

• How does Auden use everyday objects and imagery to convey the depth of the speaker’s grief?
• In “Funeral Blues,” Auden’s references to mundane objects—like clocks, telephones, and pianos—serve to ground the poem in the familiar, making the grief feel more immediate and relatable. The opening line, “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,” uses everyday objects to symbolize the speaker’s need to pause life itself in response to loss. By incorporating accessible images, Auden emphasizes that grief is not an abstract or remote experience; it affects every element of daily life. This approach invites readers to reflect on how grief interrupts the ordinary and reshapes one’s perception of the world, as all familiar objects now serve as painful reminders of the loved one’s absence.
• In what ways does the speaker’s relationship with the deceased seem to define their own identity?
• The speaker’s identity appears to be deeply intertwined with the deceased, as they describe the loved one with phrases like, “He was my North, my South, my East and West.” This expression suggests that the speaker relied on the deceased for guidance, stability, and purpose. By defining the loved one as “my working week and my Sunday rest,” the speaker further indicates that this person was central to every aspect of their life. Auden’s portrayal of such dependency raises questions about how personal identity can become entwined with others, and the destabilizing impact of loss on one’s sense of self when such a defining relationship is gone.
• What role does irony play in shaping the theme of impermanence in the poem?
• Auden introduces irony in the line, “I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong,” highlighting the contrast between the speaker’s belief in the permanence of love and the harsh reality of death. This irony underscores the theme of impermanence, suggesting that even the most powerful human experiences are subject to change and loss. By acknowledging the failure of love’s endurance, Auden emphasizes life’s fragility and unpredictability, calling into question the certainty of human attachments. This line challenges readers to consider how life’s impermanence can upend our deepest beliefs, casting love itself as tragically finite.
• How does Auden’s use of hyperbolic language enhance the emotional intensity of the poem?
• Auden employs hyperbole, particularly in the final stanza, to convey the overwhelming nature of the speaker’s grief. Phrases like “Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun” and “Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood” reflect a desire to eliminate natural elements, as if nothing meaningful remains in a world without the deceased. This exaggerated language heightens the emotional intensity, communicating that the speaker’s sorrow is so profound it transcends the bounds of reality. By suggesting that even the cosmic elements should cease to exist, Auden reveals the speaker’s perception of a universe stripped of value, where personal loss feels apocalyptic. This raises questions about how grief can alter one.

Literary Works Similar to “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

1. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
   This poem, like “Funeral Blues,” confronts death, but instead of despair, it calls for defiance and resistance against the end of life.
2. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson
   Dickinson’s poem personifies death as a calm journey, sharing with Auden’s work a meditative approach to mortality, though in a less despairing tone.
3. “When You Are Old” by W.B. Yeats
   This poem reflects on lost love and inevitable aging, resonating with Auden’s themes of love’s fragility and the sorrow that accompanies time’s passage.
4. “In Memoriam A.H.H.” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
   Tennyson’s elegy mourns a close friend, expressing profound loss and sorrow, similar to the grief and emptiness conveyed in “Funeral Blues.”
5. “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
   Bishop’s poem explores loss through a resigned, almost instructional tone, paralleling Auden’s portrayal of the futility of life after a significant loss.

Representative Quotations of “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

Quotation	Context	Theoretical Perspective
“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone”	Opening line sets the tone for the poem, signaling the desire to halt time and communication to reflect the speaker’s deep grief.	Psychoanalytic Theory: Reflects the subconscious urge to freeze time to avoid processing loss.
“Silence the pianos and with muffled drum”	Indicates a traditional funeral setting, asking for quiet and solemnity as an acknowledgment of death’s presence.	Cultural Criticism: Examines how death rituals across cultures symbolize collective respect and shared grief.
“Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come”	Calls for a formal ritual, inviting people to mourn and recognize the loss collectively.	Ritual Theory: Highlights how rituals provide closure and structure to the grieving process.
“Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead”	Modern imagery of airplanes mourning, suggesting that even technology reflects the speaker’s sorrow.	Modernism: Uses contemporary imagery to convey timeless emotions, showing grief in a modern context.
“He was my North, my South, my East and West”	Metaphorically describes the deceased as the speaker’s guiding compass, central to their existence.	Psychoanalytic Theory: Represents the projection of self-identity and emotional dependency on a loved one.
“My working week and my Sunday rest”	Indicates that the loved one was integral to every aspect of the speaker’s life, from work to rest.	Existentialist Theory: Reflects the existential void left when one’s entire structure of meaning is lost.
“I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.”	A painful realization that love, while deeply felt, cannot outlast death.	Romanticism: Explores the transient nature of love, challenging romantic ideals of eternal union.
“The stars are not wanted now; put out every one”	Suggests a wish to eliminate beauty and continuity, as they no longer bring comfort or meaning.	Nihilism: Represents the rejection of meaning or value in existence after a profound loss.
“Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun”	Hyperbolic language showing the desire to eliminate all sources of light and joy, as grief darkens all aspects of life.	Symbolism: The sun and moon symbolize life’s continuity, now irrelevant in the face of death.
“For nothing now can ever come to any good.”	Final line of the poem captures the speaker’s complete sense of hopelessness and despair, believing life is now purposeless.	Existentialism: Reflects the existential crisis of finding life meaningless without a loved one’s presence.

Suggested Readings: “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden

1. Abdoul, Bérangère, et al. “HISTOIRE D’UNE TRADUCTION: ‘FUNERAL BLUES’ DE W. H. AUDEN.” La Linguistique, vol. 37, no. 2, 2001, pp. 135–45. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41307181. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
2. Antzoulis, Vasiliki. “Writing to Heal, Understand, and Cope.” The English Journal, vol. 93, no. 2, 2003, pp. 49–52. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3650495. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
3. Condé, Maryse, and Richard Philcox. “Tales from the Heart.” Callaloo, vol. 24, no. 4, 2001, pp. 973–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3300302. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
4. Eva-Wood, Amy L. “Does Feeling Come First? How Poetry Can Help Readers Broaden Their Understanding of Metacognition.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 51, no. 7, 2008, pp. 564–76. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40012382. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.