"Funeral Blues" is a poem first published in 1936 by W. H. Auden. Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973), who signed his works W. H. Auden (IPA: ; first syllable of Auden rhymes with law), was an Anglo-American poet, regarded by many as one of the great writers of the 20th century. ...

Titles and versions

The poem, known by at least four titles, originally appeared in very different form, as a five-stanza parody poem of mourning for a political leader, in the verse play The Ascent of F6 which Auden wrote with Christopher Isherwood in 1936. [1]. The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts, by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the second play in the Auden-Isherwood collaboration, first published in 1936. ... Christopher Isherwood (left) and W.H. Auden (right), photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1939 Christopher Isherwood (prior to 1946 Christopher William Bradshaw-Isherwood) (August 26, 1904 – January 4, 1986), Anglo-American novelist, was born in the ancestral seat of his family, Wybersley Hall, High Lane, in the north west of...

The poem is commonly known by its opening words, "Stop all the clocks" but the only title that Auden ever gave it was "Funeral Blues".

The original five-stanza version and the final four-stanza version have the same two first stanzas. The final three stanzas of the five-stanza version (in The Ascent of F6) are entirely different from the final two stanzas of the four-stanza version. The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts, by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the second play in the Auden-Isherwood collaboration, first published in 1936. ...

In its final four-stanza form, it was included in Auden's book Another Time as one of four poems headed "Four Cabaret Songs for Miss Hedli "guarra" Anderson". As the title suggests, the final version of the poem was written to sung by Hedli Anderson (in a musical setting by Benjamin Britten). Antoinette Millicent Hedley Anderson (1907 - 1990) was an English singer and actor. ... Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH (November 22, 1913 Lowestoft, Suffolk - December 4, 1976 Aldeburgh, Suffolk) was a British composer, conductor, and pianist. ...

The text in the UK edition of Another Time has a misprint, "woods" for the correct reading "wood"; this error does not occur in any other edition. Another Time is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1940. ...

In Auden's Collected Poetry (1945) the poem is poem XXX in the section "Songs and Other Musical Pieces". In his Collected Shorter Poems 1927-1957 (1966) the poem is poem IX in the section "Twelve Songs" in Part II, "1933-1938"; the same numbering appears in his posthumous Collected Poems (1976, 1991, 2007).

The version stated in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral goes as follows : Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. ...

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.

Summary

"Funeral Blues" is a simple – but devastatingly emotional – poem about death, isolation, emptiness, longing and numbness. The death of a lover may or may not be a literal event; the poem is also about the end of a love affair. In four stanzas it moves from the time before the funeral (Stop all the clocks, Silence the pianos...), during the funeral itself (Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come...), after the funeral (He was my North, my South...), and the loneliness and grief that comes with it.

Appearances

• The poem was set to music by Benjamin Britten and later included in a collection of settings of Auden poems under the title Cabaret Songs.
• "Funeral Blues" was the poem read by Matthew (John Hannah) at the funeral of his partner Gareth (Simon Callow) in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
• It is the English contribution to the statue commemorating the Heysel Stadium disaster (Belgium), where a retaining wall collapsed, and resulted in 39 deaths on May 29, 1985 when Liverpool FC (England) played Juventus FC (Italy) in the UEFA Cup final.
• "Funeral Blues" is the first song on the Munly album Galvanized Yankee (1999).
• Excerpts from "Funeral Blues" were used in the DJ Noize song "O.D.B. Tribute", from the CD "Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture".

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH (November 22, 1913 Lowestoft, Suffolk - December 4, 1976 Aldeburgh, Suffolk) was a British composer, conductor, and pianist. ... John Hannah (born April 23, 1962) is a Scottish actor from East Kilbride. ... Simon Philip Hugh Callow, CBE (born June 15, 1949 in London, England) is a highly-regarded British actor of stage, film and television, and a biographer of Orson Welles and Charles Laughton. ... Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. ... The Heysel Stadium disaster occurred due to football hooliganism in which a retaining wall of the Heysel Stadium in Brussels collapsed on May 29, 1985 during a football match between Liverpool F.C. from England and Juventus FC from Italy. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... {{Football club infobox | clubname = Liverpool FC | image = fullname = Liverpool FC | nickname = The Reds | founded = 1892 | ground = Anfield | capacity = 45,000 | chairman = D.R.Moores | Chief Executive Officer = R.N.Parry | manager = Rafael Benitez | league = FA Premiership | season = 2005-06 | position = FA premiership, 5th | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=| leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FF0000... Juventus F.C. (Latin for Youth) is one of Italys oldest and most successful football clubs, based in Turin. ... Jay Munly (also credited as Munly and Munly Munly) is a banjo player, guitarist, singer, and songwriter based in Denver, Colorado. ...

External links

Scans from the British edition (1940) of Another Time: Another Time is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1940. ...

• Title page
• Publishing history
• Part of contents
• "Funeral Blues" with typographical error "woods" for "wood"