Funeral Blues Flashcards
Sharp words in the first stanza.
“Stop” “Cut” “Prevent” “Silence” “Bring out” “Let”
“Stop” “Cut” “Prevent” “Silence” “Bring out” “Let”
Auden uses imperative verbs such as “stop” , “prevent”, “silence” to emphasize how the speaker desires the world to stop at a standstill in the wake of the death of their loved one and struggles to comprehend that the cycle of the world continues to move on in spite of their world being turned upside down.
Demands in the first stanza.
“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,”
“Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,”
Examples of the speakers need for recognition of the death and their need for life to freeze in the wake of the death. Also, continues to establish the frantic tone which Auden uses to highlight the speaker’s state of mind in the wake of the death.
Sharp demands in the second stanza.
“Let” “Put”
“Let” “Put”
Once again, Auden uses imperative verbs as a way of expressing the speaker’s anguish. The imperative verbs signal the need for things to stop and come to a standstill. The speaker feels the world is showing a lack of acknowledgement towards the death and wants nothing more than a halt to the activities of the world and can’t process a world without the deceased in it.
Aeroplanes above.
“Moaning overhead”
“Moaning overhead”
This quote is used as a symbol of the grief associated with the death. “moaning overhead” reflects upon the speaker’s outpouring of emotion in response to the death of the loved one. This is an extension onto the previous stanzas where Auden used the line “muffled” “mourners” to show the speaker trying to hold back their emotion and stifle their tears, however in their own personal grief they cannot hold back on emotion to express the depth of their loss and shows how the deceased was the centre of their life and also highlights how grief can trigger emotional instability as the shock to the system of the death can be a very raw and triggering time as the speaker has to try and process the death.
Message from the aeroplanes.
“‘He is Dead’.”
“‘He is Dead’.”
This line creates a blunt tone and emphasizes the finality of the death. ‘He is dead’” is so stark and definitive—it feels like a statement of brutal finality, and it’s used by Auden to emphasize the speaker’s attempt to process the reality of death. It’s not just a declaration of a fact but a kind of shock to the system, almost as if the speaker is trying to convince themselves of something that feels impossible or incomprehensible. The simplicity of the statement makes it hit hard because it forces the reader to face the emptiness that comes with loss, without any cushioning or eloquence.
Sense of direction.
“He was my North, my South, my East and West,”
“He was my North, my South, my East and West,”
This emphasizes the importance of the loved one to the speaker. The use of “North , South, East and West” shows that the deceased meant everything to the speaker and they now feel an emptiness and lack of direction in life without their loved one.
Week fulfilment.
“My working week and my Sunday rest,”
“My working week and my Sunday rest,”
This line is used to emphasized how the speaker has grown reliant upon and accustomed to the support of the deceased. The speaker takes on a personal tone and highlights the love and devotion the speaker and deceased had towards each other and is yet another expression of the sadness associated with grief as the speaker reminisces over the life they once had as they have to try and process a new life they now have to lead without their loved one in it.
Times of day.
“My noon, my midnight,”
