Posted by Jay_Bravest_Face on February 16, 2008, at 18:44:58
In reply to I love Auden's work (nm) » Jay_Bravest_Face, posted by Racer on February 15, 2008, at 23:57:47
W. H. Auden really has been special to me in particular over the past 15 years or so. I was living alone, reeling, trying to deal with the sudden death of the woman I thought I was going to be with for the rest of my life, and our child who I of course (and any parent thinks) is definitely going to be there even after you leave the face of this earth.... There is so much eternal love there.... Well, my Mom noticed I was really falling apart when I showed her the following poem and was in hysterical tears doing so. Those last four lines, they are etched in some kind of eternal memory for me. It's "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 crêpe 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.
poster:Jay_Bravest_Face
thread:813001
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20080215/msgs/813167.html