Funeral Blues
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"Funeral Blues", or "Stop all the clocks", is a poem by
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
which first appeared in the 1936 play ''
The Ascent of F6 ''The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts'', by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the second and most successful play in the Auden-Isherwood collaboration, first published in 1936. It was a major contribution to English poetic drama in ...
''. Auden substantially rewrote the poem several years later as a
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
song for the singer
Hedli Anderson Antoinette Millicent Hedley Anderson (1907 – 1990) was an English singer and actor. Known as Hedli Anderson, she studied singing in England and Germany before returning to London in 1934. Anderson joined the Group Theatre, and performed in ca ...
. Both versions were set to music by the composer
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
. The second version was first published in 1938 and was titled "Funeral Blues" in Auden's 1940 ''
Another Time Another Time may refer to: * ''Another Time'' (book), a 1940 book of poems by W. H. Auden * ''Another Time'' (Jeff Williams album), 2011 * ''Another Time'' (Earth, Wind & Fire album), 1974 See also * " Another Time (Andrew's Song)", a 2014 so ...
''. The poem experienced renewed popularity after being read in the film ''
Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle ...
'' (1994), which also led to increased attention on Auden's other work. It has since been cited as one of the most popular modern poems in the United Kingdom.


Writing and publication

The poem was five stanzas long when it first appeared in the 1936
verse play Verse drama is any drama written significantly in verse (that is: with line endings) to be performed by an actor before an audience. Although verse drama does not need to be ''primarily'' in verse to be considered verse drama, significant portion ...
''
The Ascent of F6 ''The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts'', by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the second and most successful play in the Auden-Isherwood collaboration, first published in 1936. It was a major contribution to English poetic drama in ...
'', written by Auden and
Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...
. 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 Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
and read as a
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
work.
Hedli Anderson Antoinette Millicent Hedley Anderson (1907 – 1990) was an English singer and actor. Known as Hedli Anderson, she studied singing in England and Germany before returning to London in 1934. Anderson joined the Group Theatre, and performed in ca ...
, an English singer, was a lead performer in ''The Ascent of F6''. Auden decided to re-write several poems for Anderson to perform as
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
songs, including "Funeral Blues", and was working on them as early as 1937. The re-write was likely completed by the end of that year. Britten again worked as the composer. Auden kept the first two stanzas from his initial version, but replaced the last three with two new stanzas, as those verses made enough references to the play that they could not be understood outside of it. They were also of relatively poor quality, according to the poet
Joseph Warren Beach Joseph Warren Beach (January 14, 1880 – August 13, 1957) was an American poet, novelist, critic, educator and literary scholar. Life Joseph Warren Beach was born in Gloversville, New York. His parents were Dr. Eugene Beach, who was a physician, ...
. This version was first published in the 1938 anthology ''Poems of To-Day'', Third Series, by the
English Association The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by ...
, and also appeared in ''The Year's Poetry, 1938'', compiled by Denys Kilham Roberts and
Geoffrey Grigson Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson (2 March 1905 – 25 November 1985) was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine ''New Verse'', and went on to p ...
(London, 1938), titled "Blues". Auden then included the poem in his poetry collection ''
Another Time Another Time may refer to: * ''Another Time'' (book), a 1940 book of poems by W. H. Auden * ''Another Time'' (Jeff Williams album), 2011 * ''Another Time'' (Earth, Wind & Fire album), 1974 See also * " Another Time (Andrew's Song)", a 2014 so ...
'' (
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
, 1940) as one of four poems headed "Four Cabaret Songs for Miss Hedli Anderson"; the poem itself was titled "Funeral Blues". The poem appeared in Auden's 1945 ''Collected Poetry'' as Song No. XXX, and was similarly untitled in the 1950 and 1966 editions. Britten wrote a setting of the poem for chorus and instrumental group as part of his incidental music for the first production of ''The Ascent of F6'' in 1937, and later arranged it for solo voice and piano in a collection of settings of Auden poems under the title ''Cabaret Songs''.


Analysis

The English scholar Seamus Perry notes similarities between Auden's re-write and the poems of
Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...
, which Perry considers "ingenious" and "witty". He also feels that the poem is not as "light" as Porter's work or its cabaret origins suggest. According to Perry, the poem shows that "often the true immensity of love is learned through realising the enormity of its absence", specifically citing the line "I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong". The final two lines of the poem as published in ''Another Time'' read "Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods./For nothing now can ever come to any good." These lines do not rhyme, but would if the first ended "wood" rather than "woods". Perry considers this intentional, saying it feels almost as though the poem itself becomes "momentarily distracted by grief". By presenting the poem in the imperative, Auden draws attention to it, according to the scholar John G. Blair. In 2009 the scholar Heidi Hartwig argued that the poem could be read and interpreted in many different ways, depending on how and by who it was presented. Joseph Warren Beach notes that in the revised version of the poem, the first two stanzas are tied to the everyday world, referencing mundane things such as airplanes and telephones. Conversely, the two new stanzas reference things more common to typical ballads, such as the ocean or the heavens. The two halves "have an underlying tone of cosmic disillusion characteristic of the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
." He considers that piecing the halves together makes the poem "lively" and appealing to various readers.


Appearances and reception

The poem is read in its entirety in the 1994 British
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film ''
Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle ...
''. The poem is read by Matthew, a character portrayed by John Hannah, at the funeral of his partner Gareth. After the film's release, Auden's work saw increased attention, particularly "Funeral Blues". A collection of ten of Auden's poems titled ''Tell Me the Truth About Love''including "Funeral Blues"was published by
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
upon the film's release and sold around a quarter million copies. A 1999 poll conducted by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
placed the poem as the United Kingdom's fifth most popular "modern" poem. The introduction to a 2000 poetry anthology published by
Miles Kelly Publishing Miles Kelly Publishing is an independent children's publishing company founded by Jim Miles and Gerard Kelly in 1996. It is based in the village of Bardfield End Green near Thaxted in Essex, UK, after moving from its base of 13 years in Great ...
credited the poem's reading in ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' with showing how poetry could be "cool". In 2013 "Funeral Blues" was described by the English scholar Abbie Garrington as "perhaps Auden's best‐known work". The poem is often read as a memorial. An article in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' describes the poem as serving as the "elegy of the AIDS era" in the 1980s. It is the English contribution to the statue commemorating the
Heysel Stadium disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster ( it, Strage dell'Heysel ; german: link=no, Katastrophe von Heysel ; french: Drame du Heysel ; nl, Heizeldrama ) was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by ...
, where a retaining wall collapsed, resulting in 39 deaths on 29 May 1985, when
Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
played
Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...
in the European Cup final.
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Cressida Dick Dame Cressida Rose Dick (born 16 October 1960) is a British retired senior police officer who served as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2017 to 2022. She is both the first female and first openly homosexual officer to lead the Me ...
read the poem in full at the funeral of police officer Keith Palmer, who was fatally stabbed in the
2017 Westminster attack On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the British Parliament. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Briton, drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster ...
.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * *


External links


Full digitisation of Britten's incidental music to ''Ascent of F6'' manuscript
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

Text
and readings by
Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, (born 16 June 1934), is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy A ...
,
Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in ''The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in ''A ...
,
Mark Strong Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963), is a British actor, best known for his film roles such as Prince Septimus in '' Stardust'' (2007), Archibald in ''RocknRolla'' (2008), Lord Henry Blackwood in ''Sherlock Holmes'' (20 ...
,
Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...
; The Poetry Hour, Josephine Hart Poetry Foundation *, Katie Bray (mezzo-soprano), William Vann (piano) {{Authority control 1936 poems Poetry by W. H. Auden 1938 poems