W.H. Auden Funeral Blues

The poem from Four Weddings And A Funeral

Funeral Blues

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 fore 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 upt the woods:

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

- W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

Here is a new musical version of the classic W.H. Auden poem

"Stop All the Clocks" or "Funeral Blues", as it is also called, recited in the 1994 film 'Four Weddings and A Funeral'. You can find and download it at the site Songs of Grief and Loss. org. 

Their aim is to make this song widely available for use by the grieving. May I take this opportunity to share with you, this work by emerging artist, Nemo Shaw.

Three versions of the song can be downloaded. There is a "He","She", and "They" version to suit the particular circumstances of loss.

Go from Four Weddings and a Funeral Back to Poems 

Go from Four Weddings and A Funeral to Creative Funeral Ideas Home