The Mood in Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden The poem, "Funeral Blues", by W.H. Auden tells about a person's grief and is successful in creating a very sad and depressing mood. This is achieved by the poet's use of language, word choice and sentence structure. The way in which the author describes his feeling - along with the use of rhythm and rhyme - was created in a very effective way which made it clear to the reader. In the first stanza the depressing mood is created straight away by
W.H. Auden wrote the poem, “Funeral Blues”. Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973) was born in York, England, and later became and American citizen. Auden was the founder for a generation of English poets, such as C. Day Lewis, and Stephen Spender. Auden’s earlier works were composed of a Marxist outlook with a knowledge of Freudian Psychology. Later works consisted of professing Christianity, and what he considered “increasing conservatism”. In 1946 Auden emigrated and became an American citizen. While in
Death Reflected in Auden’s Funeral Blues, Forche’s Memory of Elena, and Dickinson’s Last Night that She lived Death is a natural and inevitable part of life. Everyone will experience death, whether it is of a loved one or oneself. In W.H. Auden’s poem “Funeral Blues” (1003), he describes such a catastrophic event and the drastic effect that it has on his life. It is interesting how people choose to accept this permanent and expected event, death. Similarly, Emily Dickinson has written many
Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden is a short poem that illustrates the emotions that he is dealing with after the love of his life passes away. The tone of this piece evokes feelings that will differ depending on the reader; therefore, the meaning of this poem is not in any way one-dimensional, resulting in inevitable ambiguity . In order to evoke emotion from his audience, Auden uses a series of different poetic devices to express the sadness and despair of losing a loved one. This poem isn’t necessarily
As she walked into the funeral home, all Amanda could notice was tear stained faces, the costumes of black on the people, which symbolizes the somber time ahead, and how hushed everyone was being. It was the funeral of Amanda’s brother, Jacob Flowers, who had passed in a horrific car accident involving a drunk driver. The funeral home was getting to be only standing room because Jacob was acquainted with so many people, and had affected many lives in unique ways. Jacob had passed at the young age
Religion and cultures teach the idea of life after death, but only if a person lives a good life, and surrenders themselves to a higher power. There are also rituals a deceased family must follow during funerals and with grief to ease the transition from life to death. In some cultures, funerals and time for mourning is a quick process, in others it can take several weeks before the body is laid to rest. Death is the end, some cultures rejoice others mourn, but between all cultures and religions
There was something uncomfortable about a funeral service on a sunny day. Uncomfortable because the images of a cloudless blue sky and a dead body being lowered into the ground didn’t quite fit together in my mind. Also, it was uncomfortable because I didn’t exactly enjoy wearing black in the beating sun. But alas, I feel it would have been uncouth to wear white to a funeral. I glanced down at my crossed wrists and then glanced around me to see if anyone was giving me a distasteful look. It’s not
from and its traditions and customs. Three countries with very interesting traditions and customs for the burial and funeral of a deceased person are China, Africa, and Australia. China has a very interesting tradition for the burial and funeral of a deceased person. Since cremation is uncommon throughout China, the burial of the dead is taken very seriously. It is taken
In his poem “Funeral Blues,” W.H. Auden depicts a grieving speaker who, at the loss of the speaker’s most beloved person, demands that the world around the speaker change to match the intense feeling of grief being felt. In the very first stanza, the speaker calls for respectful silence that represents his inner struggle at the loss of his love (“Overview”). Not only does the speaker call for the silence of the phone and dogs, but even time must be stopped for the sad occasion ("Funeral"). Only the
purposes and rituals (Gardener’s Art . The white- ground slips of these vases were commonly painted with depictions of the events of an ancient Greek funeral, the most popular being visitation of the grave, and the process of the deceased moving into the afterlife. Ancient Greek painters used a variety of rich colors to apply decoration of the funeral process and patterns. The wide rimmed ring of space located at the top of the lekythos was commonly decorated with a pattern called palmette. Discovering
Narrative- My Parents' Funeral Celery sticks served as slugger bats; olives substituted for baseballs to be smashed across the kitchen. Cousins Sonny and Guido were pitcher and catcher, and my sister Dorrie was a combination of infield and outfield. I came up to bat for the first time just as Gramps called for us to come into the living room. A policeman stood in the doorway. Nonnie and Aunt Sandy were crying. All morning we had been told to stop touching the Thanksgiving dinner or we would
Before actually attending the funeral my parents made sure everything I was wearing was black. I made a mistake of wearing a red bracelet and my parents scolded me. As I took off bracelet, I asked my parents why I couldn’t wear a red bracelet and they said it was because the color red was associated with happiness and celebrations. I understood immediately because we recently celebrated what I considered the happiest time of the year, Chinese New Year, which prominately uses red. So it would have
Death of a Salesman: After the Funeral They all return to the house. The fully paid for house. The sight of it brings back a slight sob to Linda's throat, when she reaches the cement stoop her sobbing once again becomes full. Charley looks to her but is at a loss for words. Happy puts his arms around his mother and holds her. Biff only looks on at it all. For a brief second he sees the Willy's fate in Happy's eyes as he holds Linda. Willy's death has brought Biff to know what he is more than
the second stanza is more about the feelings of friends and family back at home. This poem starts off at a quick pace, and then slows down throughout the poem, drawing to a slow and sombre close. Throughout this poem the feel of a war style funeral is compared and contrasted to the ways in which men died in the war. The title 'Anthem for Doomed Youth,' gives you a first impression of a sad poem. 'Anthem' is normally, and in my eyes a song that is sung in churches. The word 'Doomed' is
Thomas Higginson changing Dickinson's words. An interpretive paper on, "I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain Emily's Version I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, And Mourners to and fro Kept treading--treading--till it seemed That Sense was breaking through. And when they all were seated, A Service, like a Drum. Kept beating--beating--till I thought My Mind was going numb. And then I heard them lift a Box And creak across my Soul With those same Boots of Lead, again, Then Space--began to toll
consume her, and therefore is evident several times within her poetry. A clear example of this is in her poem 280 when she writes, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,/ And Mourners to and fro/ Kept treading-treading-till it seemed/ That Sense was breaking through-” (Dickinson 176). The whole poem goes on referring to what I believe her to be talking about, is her own funeral. Reading only that poem alone would make Dickinson seem to be depressed, but I think it is more that she is scared senseless about her
discussion. One in particular is death. Within the U.S. culture, people are traditionally uncomfortable with the concept, sometimes so much that they face anxiety and fear should it be brought up, even though death is an inevitable part of life’s cycle. Funeral trends, the grieving process, and even the concept of death in media signal shifts in how the U.S. culture views and copes with death. With this in mind, the following paragraphs will address these four questions: 1. What is an overview of U.S. culture
De Spelder and Strickland (1983) say that the understanding of death is communicated through the process of socialization by which children learn the concepts and conversations that have value in modern society (p.64). Geoffrey Goer believes that there is evidence to suggest that death has become a taboo and has replaced sex as the unspoken subject of today’s society. Goer says children “are initiated in their early years to love (the concept of sex); But they no longer see their grandfather and
Death is inescapable for all living beings. It is the one commonality all cultures share. It is an equalizer in a world of diversity. Although death itself is absolute, the practices which surround death are varied and complex from culture to culture and individual to individual. As Mike Parker Pearson elaborates: In the face of the universal fact of death, attitudes to the corpse are various and changeable. These attitudes are formed through the practices of treatment of the dead and are embodied
My Funeral Wishes A funeral is an important event that should be planned with careful consideration, as each person only gets one to celebrate his or her life. People often die expectantly and suddenly leaving any funeral and burial arrangements in the hands of friends or relatives. These friends or family of the deceased may or may not have a good understanding of what the deceased would have preferred in his or her post death arrangements. A person planning his or her own funeral can prevent