Stop all the clocks, turn off the telephone

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 for ever: 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.

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The imagery in W.H. Audens Stop all the clocks, turn off the telephone shapes

the theme of the poem; the desolation one feels after the loss of a loved one.

Experiencing such loss is a fact of nature, yet it is a devastating event nonetheless.

Taking up the pen as a means of expression is a writer's natural reaction. Whether it be

in mourning, or as an attempt to honor the memory of a loved one. In Stop all the

clocks, turn off the telephone Auden uses imagery to manifest the hopeless sorrow that

comes with the passing of someone special.

In moments of anguish and despair time seems to freeze. The image of a

stopping clock is a powerful message Auden portrays in the first line of the poem. In an

instant everything comes to a sudden halt.The last tick of a clock echoing through a

vacant conscious. It makes the reader imagine a moment in their lives where they felt

like this. Its almost picturesque, like a scene from a superhero movie where everything

is frozen in place because the superhero is moving so fast. Although scientifically

impossible, this is certainly a very relatable feeling. Often it comes to one in moments of

intense stress, or after receiving terrible news.

In the third line of the first stanza Auden demands for silence, then introduces the

beat of a muffled drum (Auden 556). The words conjure in the reader's mind the sound

of a distant funeral march. Muffled is a key descriptor, some drums like those in a

marching band are loud and aggressive. Auden chose this word purposefully because

the drum needs to feel quiet, almost imperceptible.

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The final line of the third stanza creates yet another picturesque scene. Pole

bearers in black suits, carrying a coffin out of a church and onto the winding path of a

graveyard. Mourners gathering, sharing in their sorrow and despair. Weeping under

black umbrellas around a freshly dug grave. Such a powerful scene manifests in the

reader's mind that it is hard not to picture the moment and put yourself inside the

author's shoes. It creates a mournful setting, and gives the reader a first glimpse at the

poem's plot.

The second stanza leads with the image of moaning planes writing a message in

the sky He is dead (Auden 556), here Auden reveals his despair to the reader. The

message in the sky represents his looping thoughts, branding those three words into his

brain. The moaning planes create a vivid image of bleak skies that mourn with the

author. By adding this image, Auden shows that not only does he mourn, but he feels as

if the world should mourn with him. Loss at times can seem incomprehensible, the

message is Audens eternal reminder that the world will never be the same.

The final lines of the second stanza reinforce that the author feels he shouldnt

mourn alone. He states that doves should wear bows, and that policemen should wear

black gloves. The word public (Auden 556) is especially important because it

emphasizes the motif of the second stanza; the author feels he shouldnt mourn alone.

Doves are symbolic in that they represent love, by asking for doves to wear bows

Auden is implying that he has lost a loved one. Black is symbolic in that it represents

death and mourning. By asking for policemen to wear black gloves, Auden is further

implying that the world should mourn his loss with him. It is evident that his whole world
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has been rocked by this tragedy, and everywhere he goes is yet another reminder of his

now empty existence. Audens despair is so strong that it feels as if the whole world

should mourn with him.

The third stanza describes the breadth of Audens feelings, and the impact of his

loss. He states He was my North, my South, my East and West, My noon, my

midnight, my talk, my song (Auden 556), this person obviously meant everything to

Auden. His word choice in the third stanza is exceptionally descriptive of the position the

deceased held in his life. Likening him to all four cardinal directions seems to imply that

without him the author is lost. To bolster that statement he elaborates further, stating

that the deceased was a considerable part of his daily life. Implying that life is

meaningless and empty without him.

The final line of the third stanza is especially compelling, Auden states I thought

that love would last for ever: I was wrong (Auden 556). This line begs the question; is

true love eternal? It was his deep love that inspired him to write this poem, a love that is

seemingly forever strong. Yet he states he was wrong, that love does not last forever.

Auden no doubt feels strongly about the deceased, yet his statement here is

paradoxical. Although his earthly love had left the world, the spiritual and emotional

bonds that they created will never be erased.

The final stanza culminates with the destruction of the world. In the second line of

the fourth stanza Auden calls to Pack up the moon, and dismantle the sun (Auden

556). Even the natural constants of the Earth; the sun, moon, and stars, are

meaningless to him now. This suggests that the light in the author's life has been
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snuffed out, leaving him in endless darkness. The poem concludes with an

exceptionally dark statement that re emphasizes the theme. The author states, For

nothing now can ever come to any good (Auden 556). His crippling loss is so deep that

he doesnt believe he will ever be happy again.

The loss of a loved one is an especially devastating event. In Stop all the clocks,

turn off the telephone Auden eloquently puts into words the emotional turmoil that one

experiences under such circumstances. He vividly describes a world in mourning

through the eyes of someone who has experienced an overwhelming loss. He then

reflects on the position the deceased held in his life, and the empty existence that now

lies before him.

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Works Cited

Auden, W.H. Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. The Norton Introduction to

Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, W.W. Norton & Co., 2017, p. 556.