In the poem “Stop All the Clocks, Cut Off the Telephone,” by W.H. Auden, the speaker tries to stop the world after losing a loved one. The speaker uses the word choices, such as “…muffled drum…” and “mourners come” (3-4), to give the reader an audible sound that is dark, hollow, and echoing; like the feeling of death.
The speaker is serious, sad, and uses a somewhat relaxed, formal diction. The speaker’s diction is formal, yet it is not too elaborate or complex for the everyday reader. It suggests that the speaker is smart, yet not proper more so than an average person. The tone conveys that the speaker has a mournful attitude towards the man who died. There is no shift in tone, showing that the speaker attitude is solid, confident, and unchanging, which may mean that the man who dies has been in the speaker’s life for a long time.
This grieving speaker wants to make the man’s death into a huge affair; hinting that this person may have been greatly important to not only the speaker, but also to many other people. In line 1, the speaker commands that all of the clocks and telephone lines be cut off. This is an unrealistic idea, one that shows the speaker may be so upset over this death that he or she is not thinking clearly.
The images in this poem also help to further a reader’s understanding of the situation that the speaker is going through. The image of traffic policeman stirs up the thought that so many people will be coming that traffic police will be needed, indicating that this person is important and well known. The white doves suggest that the man who died is a pure and kind person. The statement “Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead” (5) suggests that this man may have been in the military, in which case the man could be given an honorary fly-by for heroic actions. The images of the phones not ringing, the clocks not ticking, the dog not barking, and the pianos muffled by a drum gives the reader an auditory sense of immense silence.
In line 12, the speakers says “I thought that love would last for ever; I was wrong.” This statement leads me to believe that the speaker is a woman, upset over the death of her male lover. “He was my North, my South, my East and West” (9) confirms that the female speaker is talking about her male lover. It seems that this male who died is an important person, or may just be very important to the speaker. She uses lines 9, 10, and 11 to show how important this man is to her. Using so many lines of a short poem to make the speaker’s immense love for the man clear emphasizes how important it is for the reader to know that the speaker cared immensely for this man.
The speaker seems to be realize that, without her lover, there is no reason to live and no happiness in life. She wants everything in the world to stop, because she has no one to share the wonderful experiences of life with. The last line, “For nothing now can ever come to any good,” sums up the message that this poem is suggesting; life means nothing without someone to love and be loved by.
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9 comments:
infact W.H Auden was a man he was a homosexual he is infact greiving over his loved one who was a man.
WH Auden is homosexual. But who is to say the persona is himself. Like an author writes a book, we do not for one second think that the author is writing about their own experience. So therefore, it is fair to say that he is NOT writing from his own personal experiences, but in fact is using the poem as an expressive form to convey his ideas about losing a oved one to a select audience. SO, in the context that this essay was written, the persona could be female. Next time, anonymous, don't be so quick to judge. Know your stuff, before you judge. =)
Yes, Auden was homosexual and had a long term partner called Chester Kallmen. Auden was in a very faithful relationship with Chester, but when this poem was written Chester was still alive. This therefore means that Auden was writing this about another person, or imagining what he would feel like if Chester died.
A great article indeed and a very detailed, realistic and superb analysis, of these books, very nice write up, Thanks.
um, it's in chronological order...
Auden wrote this as a parody with his then lover Christopher Isherwood of a poem which was in mourning of a political leader. can no one read wiki?
First read this when I was 14 and it has since always haunted me, a truly poignant and wonderful poem although this analytical post is slightly sloppy for my tastes..
The poem mocks elaborate funeral customs for at one time all clocks were stopped in a house when someone died and telephones were disconnected. It moves beyond satire as it touches on just how w short our time on this earth is and how irrelevant a man's life is in the great scheme of things and how enduring the universe is. "Start spreading the news. . . " the Frank Sinatra hit keeps ringing through my head as I read Auden's poem.
Well, it has been accounted that Auden and Isherwood enjoyed sexual relations with each other and other men on their work and travels together. This poem was different in one of their plays; however, Auden re-imagined the poem in 1938. Don't you think it's interesting that a year after this poem was re-imagined, he asked Kallmen for a monogamous relationship? It has been noted that he had enjoyed relationships with unequal men (in intelligence or social status) prior to this and was interested in the 'alter ego'. Might he have been putting his promiscuous side to rest? Stop all the clocks...minus the 'l'? Cut off the line of genetic communication because it's wasted. The promiscuous man who He was Is Dead. Sheath by putting on gloves, augmented by the protective policeman. Purify like a tied dove...prevent...a juicy bone...moaning overhead...clear away the wood = I'm communicating that I've had enough of my easy ways and want something to come to good...so let the mourners come...even if the old me was best known in the North, South, East and West - everything that was me doesn't feel like me anymore...just put out those pretend stars in my eyes and give me something...someone worthwhile to live for. For without true love, I am truly dead.
In 1939, he asked Kallmen to have a monogamous relationship a year after this poem was re-imagined. Even though Kallmen declined monogamy, Auden lived with him until he died.
I could be wrong but Auden seemed to be having an existential crisis. Living in a repressed mode, monogamy would be less frowned upon with less risk of being caught in compromising situations of easy love. If his connections were purer in intent, then the good couldn't be questioned within himself.
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