Stop All The Clocks

W.H. Auden poem “Stop All The Clocks”, published in 1938, describes the death of a loved one and the enormous funeral which followed. The poem consists of four stanza, each containing four lines. Auden’s poem, explores the ideas of grief, through the first person pronoun “I”, in order to engage the reader into his personal tragedy. It’s almost as if each stanza expresses a new emotion, with the first stanza expressing grief, the second stanza expressing public notification, the third stanza expressing heartbreak and the fourth stanza expressing morning. This immensely passionate poem commences with a series of harsh commands. In the opening stanza Auden writes “stop all the clock”, “cut off the telephone” and “prevent the dog from barking”, demonstrating his forcefulness and anger for the situation. As well as, demanding the halt in physical time and communication, as he just wants everything to stop. Auden also states “silence the pianos”, indicating he wants silence, so that the “mourners” can arrive, and mourn in peace. While, the phrase, “with muffled drums” refers to pallbearers carrying the “coffin.” The use of hyperbole, conveys the importance of the situation.
In the second stanza, Auden writes “let aeroplanes circle” and scribble in the sky “he is dead.” This phrase emphasise the dramatic nature of the
Whilst, the last line also heavily implies that for W.H. Auden there is no light at the end of the