Comparison and Contrast of "Funeral Blues" and "She Is Gone"

“Funeral Blues” by W. H. Auden has a very dark feel as opposed to “She is gone”. The writer tells a story of his grief, and how he disconnects with his life after loosing someone he loved. There are no uplifting metaphors or promise that it gets better, just his deep grief and darkness. He uses the metaphors to a funeral “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. …” in the first part of the poem to set the mood, and tell us what his theme is. And then goes on to describe how much the person gone meant to him “He was my North, my South, my East and West. …” And tells us that he was wrong to believe love could last forever. The poem ends with a notion that nothing will ever be good again.

In “She is gone” tell us throughout the poem that you have a choice in how you react to the death of a loved one. You can choose to cry because she is gone, or smile because she has lived. You can choose to accept or to deny, you can look forward or live in the past. The writer also ends the poem with a message that the one who passed away would have wanted you to live on and love again.

So the main difference between the poems, is that while “Funeral blues” leaves no room for being happy after the loss, “She is gone” actually tells you that you have a choice. You can be happy or sad. Also you get the feeling that “Funeral blues” is written in an eraly stage of a grief process, and “She is gone” is written in a later stage, so they describe to very different situations although they are both about loosing someone you love.

Personally I like “Funeral Blues” best. It’s like when you read a romantic book, or wath a romantic movie that does not have a happy Hollywood-ending. That is probably the book or movie you will remember. I know I do. “Funeral blues” is so raw and dark, and really describes how you would feel when loosing a loved one. At least in the early stages of the grief process. For me it feels more real than “She is