Who did Auden write Funeral blues about?

“Funeral Blues” was written by the British poet W.H. Auden and first published in 1938. It’s a poem about the immensity of grief: the speaker has lost someone important, but the rest of the world doesn’t slow down or stop to pay its respects—it just keeps plugging along on as if nothing has changed.

What techniques are used in funeral blues?

Within ‘Funeral Blues’ Auden makes use of several poetic techniques. These include caesura, anaphora, alliteration, enjambment and hyperbole. The first, caesura, occurs when a line is split in half, sometimes with punctuation, sometimes not.

What is the message in Funeral Blues?

Death is the subject and main theme of “Funeral Blues.” Through the poem Auden makes a compelling statement about the devastating effects that the death of a loved one has on those left behind. The speaker has just lost someone for whom he/she had a deep love.

What is the rhyme scheme for Funeral Blues?

“Funeral Blues” is written in quatrains, and it does make use of iambic pentameter, but it’s highly irregular in its meter, with extra syllables here and wonky feet there. And the rhyme scheme is tweaked a bit, too: AABB instead of ABAB.

Why is Funeral Blues called Funeral Blues?

The poem is called “Funeral Blues,” and Shmoop thinks that’s the perfect title. After all, it’s a sad song (blues) about a dead guy (funeral). Done and done. As we discuss in our “In a Nutshell” section, the song was set to music before it was published as a poem.

Who wrote the Funeral Blues poem?

W. H. Auden
Funeral Blues/Authors
“Funeral Blues” or “Stop all the clocks” is a poem by W. H. Auden. The poem first appeared in the 1936 play The Ascent of F6. Auden substantially rewrote the poem several years later as a cabaret song for the singer Hedli Anderson. Both versions were set to music by the composer Benjamin Britten.

Who is the speaker addressing in Funeral Blues?

mourners
There’s no one answer to these questions, but since the poem is called “Funeral Blues,” it would be pretty legitimate to propose that the speaker is addressing an audience of mourners as a funeral. So this is a public poem, in a way—a poem meant for lots of people to hear.

Why was Funeral Blues written?

Writing and publication It was written as a satiric poem of mourning for a political leader. In the play, the poem was put to music by the composer Benjamin Britten and read as a blues work. Hedli Anderson, an English singer, was a lead performer in The Ascent of F6.

What figurative language is used in Funeral Blues?

1)The first technique the poet uses is personification:This is where you give inanimate object human-like characteristics and traits. In the second stanza, Auden describes having airplanes “circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky’ The poet is talking about how this person’s loved one had died.

What are the words to stop all the clocks?

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.

Is Funeral Blues a lyrical poem?

Auden actually wrote “Funeral Blues”—or at least, the more widely-known second edition, from 1938—to be sung to music. As such, it is most certainly a lyrical poem, not least because it is actually the lyrics to a piece of musical accompaniment by British composer Benjamin Britten.

What does Funeral Blues convey about death and grief?

The themes of “Funeral Blues” are grief, love, death, mourning and unhappiness. The narrator’s loved one has died, and it feels as if their entire world has been destroyed. The issue that they are dealing with is their total and complete grief and lack of meaning to life now that this person is gone.

What type of poem is Auden’s “Funeral Blues”?

‘Funeral Blues,’ also known as ‘Stop all the Clocks’ is arguably Auden’s most famous poem. It was first published in The Year’s Poetry in 1938. The poem is a morose, sad elegy that wonderfully describes the feelings associated with grieving. It’s filled with clever twists and heart-wrenching statements that give it a real poignancy, features that may explain the poem’s enduring popularity.

What is the poem Funeral Blues about?

“Funeral Blues” is a poem written in 1936 by W. H. Auden. Funeral Blues is a simple poem about death, isolation (loneliness), emptiness and longing. The death of a lover may or may not be a literal event (actually happened). The poem is also about the end of a romantic relationship with somebody other than the person’s spouse/partner.

What is the theme of the Funeral Blues?

The themes of “Funeral Blues” are grief, love, death, mourning and unhappiness. The narrator’s loved one has died, and it feels as if their entire world has been destroyed.