Stop+all+the+clocks,+cut+off+the+telephone

Just as in "The Story of an Hour", one lover's love has died. However, the two literary works differ because in "The Story of an Hour", she got over her husband's death very quickly. In this poem, the lover feels that she cannot continue on without her lover. They were obviously very much in love and I'm sure that the dead lover would be glad that he was loved so deeply. I find it comforting to know that in a very modern world, the feelings that love represent have not changed, as this poem was written in 1936.

=W. H. Auden =

[Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone]
 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 for 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 up the wood. For nothing now can ever come to any good.

 Dear lovers, Losing a loved one is one of the worst feelings you could ever experience. The poem "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone", is something that anyone who is feeling depressed because their lover is gone, should read. It can remind you that you are not alone and the feelings you are experiencing are not only your own. The poem begins with fun diction and heavy imagery but in the last line it becomes serious and says, "Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come." (Auden 609). Readers are not yet attached but feel a sense of sympathy and compassion towards the speaker, due to the captivating first three lines. Next, she tells us, "He Is Dead" (Auden 610). That was assumed by the end of the first stanza but now that it has been said aloud, it is clear that that is the climax of this poem. The third stanza insinuates that he was her "everything". Of course your lover would be your everything! I feel so horrible for this woman and anyone who has to go through such a mortifying loss. The very last stanza tells us that everything beautiful in this world has become meaningless without her lover (Auden 610). Even if you are suffering from a break-up with a lover, the consequences and emotions can feel similarly the same. I would encourage anyone who is experiencing this kind of pain to read this poem as a reminder that they are not alone, although it might feel that way.