Volume 10 141

Themes

Death
Death is the subject and main theme of “Fu-
neral Blues.” Through the poem Auden makes a
compelling statement about the devastating effects
that the death of a loved one has on those left be-
hind. The speaker has just lost someone for whom
he/she had a deep love. During the course of the
poem, the speaker will plan a funeral procession,
reveal details about their relationship, and consider
the future.

Love
The speaker describes the love he/she felt for
the deceased in the third stanza. The lines “He was
my North, my South, my East and West, / My work-
ing week and my Sunday rest, / My noon, my mid-
night, my talk, my song;” express the impact the
loved one had on the speaker’s life. The naming of
directional points suggests that the deceased pro-
vided direction and meaning for the speaker. The
time elements that encompass an entire week and
a twelve hour day point to a sense of constancy in
their relationship. Even as the speaker expressed
him/herself through “talk” and “song,” the de-
ceased’s influence was felt. Auden’s modern view
in this poem contradicts the romantic notion of love
lasting through eternity. The loss of love is final
here, as expressed in the twelfth line: “I thought
that love would last forever: I was wrong.”

Order and Disorder
When we lose a loved one who provided a
sense of meaning and order, chaos can result. The
speaker feels a sense of disorder as a result of los-
ing a relationship that was such an integral part of
his/her life. Their love provided the speaker with a
sense of time and space and so helped delineate the
boundaries of his/her life. The loss of that order
prompts the speaker to try to regain some sem-
blance of it through the planning of the funeral pro-
cession. First everyday objects are attended to as a
somber mood is set. The speaker’s use of the im-
perative voice helps regain a sense of control. The
death has caused a sensitivity to noise, and so the
speaker instructs the listener to silence telephones,
dogs, and pianos. Telephones are silenced since
communication is no longer possible in this chaotic
state and playful, barking dogs become an annoy-
ance. Even art, in the form of music from a piano,
cannot be appreciated. Clocks must be stopped be-
cause time stands still now for the speaker who can-
not see any sense of meaning in the future. This at-

tempt to control and order existence continues as

the funeral procession begins. The speaker informs

listeners that the only sounds heard shall be the

mournful beating of a “muffled drum” and the en-

gines of the “moaning” airplanes as they write the

message “He is Dead” in the sky. Further efforts at

control include instructions to appropriately deco-

rate the processional path with “crepe bows round

the white necks of the public doves” and police-

men wearing “black cotton gloves.”

After ruminating on the meaning of the rela-

tionship with the loved one, the speaker admits to

the disorder that results from death when noting

that he/she wrongly assumed “love would last for

ever.” In a final attempt to restore order, the speaker

turns to the cosmic, instructing listeners to put out

stars, pack up the moon, dismantle the sun, pour

away the ocean, and sweep up the woods. Since the

speaker’s world has been inexorably altered, nature

must be as well, for its beauty can not longer offer

comfort.

Meaning of Life

Ultimately though, the speaker’s efforts to re-

store order fail. The absurd situation that results

from the complete disruption of the universe after

the death of a loved one cannot be explained or re-

solved. Where the speaker had previously felt a

sense of meaning in life through the relationship

with the loved one, after his death, that meaning

has vanished. In this overwhelming and nonsensi-

Funeral Blues

Topics for

Further

Study

• Write a poem about a loss you have experienced.
  How did that loss alter your view of the world?


• Consider the stages of grief, focusing on the psy-
  chological effects of death on the griever. How
  does your research relate to the speaker in “Fu-
  neral Blues”?


• Compare and contrast the statements on suffer-
  ing in Auden’s “Funeral Blues” and “Musee des
  Beaux Arts.” How does the style in each reflect
  the theme?