Funeral Blues AnalysisThe narrator begins the first stanza by communicating his desire
to disconnect himself from the reminder of the passage of time and cut off communication with the outside world, an indication of severe depression. He continues on the same dispiriting course, conveying his wish to impede any entertainment or enjoyment by those with cause for happiness. As the title indicates, the last line of the first stanza communicates that the narrator’s despair has to do with a funeral. In the second stanza, the narrator details public observations of grief by utilizing instances of a change in routine on a communal scale. This is an indication of the importance of the deceased’s role within society, as it hints at their popular approval and significance within the community. The fact that the narrator requests adherence to such observations indicates his own degree of admiration for the now dead individual. The third stanza is the most substantial of the four stanzas as it sheds light on the departed’s association with the narrator and the degree of meaning in their relationship. The narrator utilizes directions of the globe as a means to communicate that the deceased meant the world to him. Next, the narrator utilizes time as well as personal natural functions to emphasize that the departed meant every facet of his existence. Finally, the narrator openly expresses his disappointment in that not even love as strong as his lasts forever, as his love has died and is gone forever. The fourth and final stanza begins its first line by departing from the individual, communal and global scale of the previous stanza and reaching out into the universal scale. The narrator utilizes the celestial heavens, rejecting their majesty as a means to communicate his desolation; he wants nothing in the cosmos but the return of the deceased. Through these themes and metaphors, the reader understands that the narrator is experiencing extreme grief of a loved one and believes everything in existence is for nothing without his love. |
W.H. Auden’s Funeral Blues, it made up of four stanzas each containing four lines. Funeral Blues contains a simplistic narration dealing with love and loss on an all-encompassing level. Regardless of personal experience, Auden’s Funeral Blues appeals to the reader’s sensibilities and is truly a moving and emotional piece.
W.H. Auden is proficient in communicating grief on many levels and provoking the reader’s sympathies. There is no indication that the poem speaks of an actual deceased individual, rather there is room for interpretation as to whether or not Auden means to convey the universal feeling of the loss of love. The fact remains however, that Auden is truly masterful with language and his poems invoke a response from his readers regardless of their length or subject.
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