Stop All The Clock By James Mcauley Analysis

The reality of death is viewed through James McAuley and W.H. Auden’s poems “Pieta” and “Stop all the Clocks”. Comparatively McAuley’s “Pieta” is an anniversary poem written one year on from the death of the narrator’s child whereas Auden’s “Stop all the Clocks” explores the emotional loss felt between an individual who cannot accept the death of a loved one. McAuley provides context in “Pieta” when readers realise the poem is an anniversary poem. It has been one year since the narrator’s child was metaphorically born “early into the light” but “died no one to blame” Conversely, Auden portrays the lack of acceptance of death as his narrator uses directives such as “stop”, “prevent”, “silence” and “bring” to demand others mourn with him. Deeply consumed is he by grief that he struggles to find purpose in living now. By demanding “stop all the clocks/cut off the telephones” the narrator wants all signs of life to cease since his reason for living and his joy in the world has been taken from him.
In contrast McAuley describes his grief as a result of the lack of connection between himself and his child while Auden’s grief stems from the loss of his partner and the inability to accept his partner is now gone. The repetition of “one” by McAuley’s narrator reflects on how the mother once “in farewell touched you” and was gifted that one touch and because of this absence of connection he “cannot tell/ cannot understand”, why this lack of a bond grieves and distresses him so much. Similarly, Auden’s inability to understand his grief stems from the fact his lover was metaphorically his “North, South, East, and West”. His love extends to every facet of his life and without him, he has no