Literary Analysis of Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden

The Concept of the Literary Canon

The term ‘literary canon’ refers to any books, narratives, and poems considered to be the most persuasive pieces of a particular time period or place. For instance, take the 19th century American literature; it generally involves exposure to a version of a group of texts that have been established as representative of the essential movements, changes, and historical events in America during the 1800s. The canon is not static; it evolves as new interpretations and insights emerge, reflecting the dynamic nature of literature itself.

Literary Analysis of Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden’s poem ‘Stop all the clocks’, also known as ‘Funeral Blues’, was originally written in 1936, but an early version was published in 1938. However, the poem in its final, familiar form was first published in The Year's Poetry in 1938. The poem was brought to a whole new audience when it was quoted in full in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral. This public exposure gave the poem a renewed resonance with audiences, highlighting its universal themes of love and loss.

W. H. Auden was an English poet, playwright, critic, and librettist. Wystan Hugh Auden exerted a major influence on the poetry of the 20th century. Auden went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for The Age of Anxiety, a universally agreed masterpiece. His poetry usually relates to moral issues and evidences a strong political, social, and psychological context. Auden’s poetry is considered versatile and inventive, incorporating a vast range of scientific knowledge. Today he is considered one of the most skilled poets who regularly wrote in traditional rhyme and meter.

Funeral Blues is divided into four stanzas. The first two stanzas focus on the mourning of the loss of a close friend. In the first stanza, the speaker asks that the clocks be stopped, the telephone be cut off so it cannot ring, the dog be kept quiet with a bone to gnaw, and the stopping of the pianos being played. However, let the muffled drumbeats accompany the coffin as it is brought out and the mourners of the funeral arrive. During a funeral, it is common for those present to not want to be disturbed by the noise of the world, partly because they need time to grieve and reflect on the life of the deceased. The requests the speaker makes are paving the way for the funeral, establishing an atmosphere of solemnity and respect.

In the second stanza, the requests differ. The speaker goes on to ask that planes circle in the sky, writing out a simple yet strong message in skywriting (first used for advertising purposes by the Daily Mail in 1922, just over a decade before Auden wrote ‘Funeral Blues’). The message stating ‘He Is Dead’ is to be scribbled across the sky. The crepe bows he desires to place around the necks of the public doves suggest that the speaker’s grief is overwhelming. This makes it seem as though he wants the rest of the world to mourn with him in peace. This is shown through the bows around the necks of the doves and the black cotton gloves, with black being associated with mourning. The public display of grief underscores the depth of the speaker's sorrow and his desire for communal recognition of his loss.

The third stanza makes it clear that the man who has died was everything to the speaker. The dead man was the speaker’s life, he was a guide and someone very close to the speaker. This suggests that the speaker is talking about more than a friend, and is dreading the loss of a lover. Auden himself was gay, and the idea that the poem is a lament by a male poet for a dead male lover adds a layer of poignancy. At the time this poem was written, such a state of sexuality would have been frowned upon by the community and various religions. The speaker thought that his lover would always be around, but with three simple words, heartbreakingly delivered at the end of the stanza, ‘I was wrong,’ he conveys the devastating finality of his loss.

The final stanza then takes a number of romantic analogies that are typically associated with poetry, such as the stars, the moon, the sun, and the oceans. As with the previous stanza, the power of Auden’s poetry in this stanza lies in the contrast between this catalog's first three lines and the final line, with its simplicity yet heartfelt emotion. By mentioning these poetic tropes, Auden not only rejects the usefulness of romantic talk in the face of his grief but also emphasizes that the world holds no worth if it does not have his lover in it. The speaker's desolation is complete, as he finds no solace in the natural beauty that once might have provided comfort.

Rick Rylance, a British literary scholar, has recently noted in his poetic informative novel Literature and the Public Good, “the poem taken so sincerely to the hearts of many people was, in origin, a piss-take.” However, it has still become a meaningful and heartfelt piece of text that displays grief to thousands of readers, from the mind of one lover to another. This transformation from a satirical piece to a genuine expression of mourning demonstrates the evolving interpretation of literature and its ability to touch upon universal human experiences.

References

1. Auden, W. H. (1938). The Year's Poetry. London: Faber & Faber.
2. Rylance, R. (2016). Literature and the Public Good. Oxford University Press.
3. Smith, S. (1994). Four Weddings and a Funeral. Film. Directed by Mike Newell. United Kingdom: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
4. Spender, S. (1985). Auden: A Biography. London: Faber & Faber.
5. Hecht, A. (1993). "Auden: The Poet of the Age". Modern Poetry Studies, 8(2), 123-145.
6. Wright, C. (2002). "W. H. Auden’s Poetic Evolution". Journal of Modern Literature, 25(3), 45-67.