Stop All the Clocks, Cut Off the Telephone
While W. H. Auden is usually considered a master poet of political and intellectual conscience, in this poem he touches on the emotional suffering of a recently widowed woman. By using the literary device of imagery the poet paints a gloomy funeral scene personifying the intense emotions of a loved one as she attempts to deal with the loss of her soul mate. The first emotion that is pictured, in this funeral dirge, is that of the complete shut down of all the senses as the finality of this tragic loss is realized. "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone," with these opening words the reader begins to hold their breath as the allusion of the stopping of the clocks is meant to bring alive the feeling that all that was normal has now come to an abrupt halt. Time governs most daily functions, yet we never consider the physical clock as very important. While glanced at occasionally, it is often not given its proper credit - it is assumed that it will continue doing what it has always done. Just as this technological device ruling our day is an ordinary and familiar event, so is the relationship she has with her loved mate. He is always there, like the clock running in the background, the very heartbeat of her existence,
In addition to the incredible sense of personal loss, the poet extends the suffering of this hurt woman to the way she views her physical world. She hears her own audible groans in the monotonous sound of the jet's engine, "Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead." This masculine imagery conjures a picture that even the strong are able to get lost in their mourning. The large barrel of the jumbo jet has lost its original direction and purpose as all it can do is rumble its sad song of death among the heavens. Whether the belly of this airship sits empty and unfulfilled, as this widow surely feels, or is filled with aimless strangers sitting in silence as they travel nowhere, the death of this man affects every aspect of life as this wounded wife sits in numb silence gripped in heavy despair. Moreover, her pain is intensified as nature continues on as if nothing has changed. A dog's natural inclination to bark happily is as painful to view as is the birds clothed in their glorious plumage. She cries out that they should be adorned, as she must be, in widow's attire, "Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves." All aspects of her world have come crashing down upon her; it seems only right that all things, including nature, should recognize this da
Some common words found in the essay are:
, main source communication, main source, life main, life main source, source communication, tragic loss,
Approximate Word count = 860
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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