Monday, February 8, 2010

Four Weddings and a Funeral & W.H. Auden


For Valentine's Day, watch one of my favorite movies Four Weddings and a Funeral and be sure not to miss one of my favorite poems when Matthew recites Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden at Gareth's funeral.



Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

11 comments:

  1. Just reading it here is emotional! I haven't seen that movie in ages. With the snow the midwest is supposed to get, I just may take your suggestion this week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the movie and the poem (in fact, it's next up in my love poem series!). Auden is my favorite poet actually; in fact, Dave and I bonded over our mutual love of his poem "Achilles' Shield" when we first met!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is quite beautiful, I can hear the words right now. I too love that movie-can not be beat for a few tears and belly laughs. Sounds like it was a perfect weekend for movies in your area.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marija-We are buried here and this is Virginia, not Chicago.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this movie and this poem just kills me! I always cry at this scene.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I will be adding this to my Netflix. I love movie recommendations.

    ReplyDelete
  7. ....and can we discuss the hats in this movie?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Averill-You have to love a man who loves Auden.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Little Augury-It is a lovely movie that I never tire of.

    ReplyDelete
  10. SogniSorrisi-That scene is a tear jerker.

    ReplyDelete