W. H. Auden ( 1907-1973) ‘Stop all the clocks’

 ( from twelve songs)

 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 mourning 

overhead,                      

Scribbling on the sky                   

the message HE Is Dead,                         

 Put crepe  bows                          

،round the necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policeman                        

wear black cotton gloves.               

He was my North, my South,          

My East and West                                     

My moon, my midnight,                  

my talk, my song:                                  

I thought that love would last                       

for ever: I was wrong.                      

 The stars are not wanted:           

put out every one,                  

 Pack the moon and dismantle the sun;

ًPour away the ocean                                         

and sweep up the wood;                         

For nothing now can ever                   

come to any good.

Short URL: https://english.farajat.net/?p=2319

Posted by farajat on Oct 22 2005 Filed under Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry