Sorrow in " Stop All the Clocks"
Mashael Zidan
Sorrow and Despair "Stop All the Clocks"
Auden's poem "Stop All the Clocks" is told by a narrator who is apparently lamenting her/his friend's loss. It is not obvious whether the narrator is a woman or a man. Also the relation (a friend, brother or lover…) and how the person died. At the end the speaker shows her/his despair and how gloomy life becomes. . All the expressions which have been used in the poem draw a funeral scene. The first stanza is full of surprising orders as if the speaker is commanding the reader to do them. Silence is one of the most significant elements which show the tone of grief and loss. In the first stanza, the lines "Prevent dogs from barking… silence the piano…" reveal the speaker does not care about the surrounding sounds, including the piano's tunes, which may offer relaxation and calmness. Now the reader exactly knows the reason behind these aggressive orders to "bring out the "coffin." Death is obviously the cause of all the orders for mourning.
In the second stanza the speaker starts to give unrealistic orders as if she/he wanted all people to show sympathy and to spread sadness. Since this poem is easy to read and contains simple but familiar words and ideas, many readers can relate to it. "He is Dead" is the message the speaker wants to be written across the sky. The capitalization of the first letters of this sentence grabs the eye and places emphasis on the seriousness of this death. The speaker’s demands that the “aeroplanes” should circle the sky, and "traffic policemen" should "wear black cotton gloves" indicate that the dead man served in military and that he was an important person. The whole stanza, including the order to have the doves wear “black bows,” shows the speaker’s desire to have the world, including the natural world, to partake of the sorrow he/she experiences as a result of this loss. In the third stanza the speaker unveils what the dead person
Sorrow and Despair "Stop All the Clocks"
Auden's poem "Stop All the Clocks" is told by a narrator who is apparently lamenting her/his friend's loss. It is not obvious whether the narrator is a woman or a man. Also the relation (a friend, brother or lover…) and how the person died. At the end the speaker shows her/his despair and how gloomy life becomes. . All the expressions which have been used in the poem draw a funeral scene. The first stanza is full of surprising orders as if the speaker is commanding the reader to do them. Silence is one of the most significant elements which show the tone of grief and loss. In the first stanza, the lines "Prevent dogs from barking… silence the piano…" reveal the speaker does not care about the surrounding sounds, including the piano's tunes, which may offer relaxation and calmness. Now the reader exactly knows the reason behind these aggressive orders to "bring out the "coffin." Death is obviously the cause of all the orders for mourning.
In the second stanza the speaker starts to give unrealistic orders as if she/he wanted all people to show sympathy and to spread sadness. Since this poem is easy to read and contains simple but familiar words and ideas, many readers can relate to it. "He is Dead" is the message the speaker wants to be written across the sky. The capitalization of the first letters of this sentence grabs the eye and places emphasis on the seriousness of this death. The speaker’s demands that the “aeroplanes” should circle the sky, and "traffic policemen" should "wear black cotton gloves" indicate that the dead man served in military and that he was an important person. The whole stanza, including the order to have the doves wear “black bows,” shows the speaker’s desire to have the world, including the natural world, to partake of the sorrow he/she experiences as a result of this loss. In the third stanza the speaker unveils what the dead person