Funeral Blues and Donna’s Elegy for Joshua A study of two elegies Mx. Cafiero 2020-2021 Poem 1: Funeral Blues Funeral Blues W.H. Auden, 1938 The Introduction Introduction and History Auden’s “Funeral Blues” • Considering its short length, Auden's poem "Funeral Blues" has a pretty complicated history. Auden first wrote it in 1936 as part of a play that he cowrote with Christopher Isherwood. In the play, the poem was satirical and mocking—it poked fun at a dead politician. • In 1938, Auden reworked the poem and turned it into a serious song with the help of a composer named Benjamin Britten, who wrote the music. • In 1994, it was featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, a successful romantic comedy. One of the characters in the film does a heartbreaking reading of the poem at his lover's funeral. Interest in Auden skyrocketed. • And since Four Weddings and a Funeral, the poem has been taken seriously as a dirge (a mourning song). So even though it started as a satire, Auden's changes and the culture's use have totally transformed the way we read it today. The Big Idea What is Funeral Blues About? and Why Should I Care? • We hope that you haven't experienced the loss of a loved one in your life. Perhaps you have. And that grief can be so terrible that you can't put your feelings into words. • "Funeral Blues" means that you don't have to. Auden captures the experience of grief, memory, devastation, and longing so poignantly that you don't need your own words to express how you feel. You have his. • Sometimes that grief goes beyond words, and into silence—the necessary quiet that comes with mourning. Time has to stop, the pianos must be quieted, the stars must be snuffed. All that's left when all these things are quashed is just the grief, and this poem—a heartbreaking reminder of why we need poetry in the first place. The Poem Funeral Blues By W.H. Auden, part 1 of 4 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. Funeral Blues By W.H. Auden, part 2 of 4 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. Funeral Blues By W.H. Auden, part 3 of 4 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. Funeral Blues By W.H. Auden, part 4 of 4 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. The Summary The first two stanzas Silence for the dead • An unnamed speaker laments the death of someone close to him. (The speaker's gender is never given, but we'll refer to "him" from now on for convenience.) The speaker asks for quiet. He wants to stop all clocks and telephones and to silence barking dogs and pianos. He says to bring out the coffin of the dead beloved, and for the mourners to come. • He continues on in a similar vein; and asks the airplanes to write "He Is Dead" across the sky. He says that doves should wear white ribbons and that policemen should wear black gloves to commemorate the death. The second two stanzas The mourner’s perspective • Then things take a turn for the personal. He says that the dead man was everything to him—all points of a compass, every day of the week, every time of the day. And the worst part is that this experience has taught him that love won't last forever, as he once thought. • That's when he starts to really despair. He doesn't want to see the stars, the moon, or the sun. He doesn't want to see the ocean or the forest. Now that the dead man is gone, there is no good left in the world. None at all. The Last Word Elegy “A poem or song for the dead” • In a lot of elegies (poems like this one that commemorate a person's death), the speaker will offer some hope for the future, or will talk about how the dead person will live on in memories and poetry. There's usually a small moment of optimism buried somewhere in them. But not in Auden's "Funeral Blues." This is just a really sad poem about death. There is no light at the end of the tunnel for anyone in “Funeral Blues.” Poem 2: Donna’s Elegy for Joshua I’d Be Remiss Collected poems by Matthew Cafiero Donna’s Elegy for Joshua M. Cafiero, 2005 The Introduction Introduction and History Cafiero’s “Donna’s Elegy for Joshua” • “Elegy” is a poem based on one question: what if a character from a drama who was shot (and survived) had instead died? From this prompt, “Elegy was written from the viewpoint of the character Donna, in reference to the death of another character, Joshua. Nothing else about the original drama or characters needs to be known to appreciate the poem. • Originally published in 2005, the poem won the Golden Coffee Cup award, among other prizes, and was reprinted several times. It is currently used in the Dual Credit curriculum for the Richardson ISD in Texas and in the Energy English creative writing education program. • The poem’s use of repetition and clustered slant rhymes often makes it seem familiar, even to first-time readers. The Big Idea What is Elegy About? and Why Should I Care? • This interpretation is left to the student as an exercise. • What is the central conceit (or main idea) of the poem? • What does it have to say, or what response does it cause in the reader? The Poem Donna’s Elegy for Joshua By M. Cafiero, part 1 of 5 I forgot to forget you today. After our laughter you would try to explain The hitch in your voice at the sound of my name, So why should goodbye be our final refrain? I forgot to forget you today. Donna’s Elegy for Joshua By M. Cafiero, part 2 of 5 At odds with the gods and desperate for blame, I laugh when friends tell me get back in the game. Who are we fooling? It can’t be the same. I forgot to forget you today. Donna’s Elegy for Joshua By M. Cafiero, part 3 of 5 Through leaving and grieving again and again, My lover may go but my love will remain For the memory of you is stronger than pain. I forgot to forget you today. Donna’s Elegy for Joshua By M. Cafiero, part 4 of 5 I forget to forget you all over each day. I won’t try to move on when there’s really no way, It’s my choice to make and you have no say. I forgot to forget you today. Donna’s Elegy for Joshua By M. Cafiero, part 5 of 5 Goodbye is a lie when you won’t go away, But in the end it’s been better this way. You’re with me each moment of every day. And I forgot to forget you today. The Summary The first two stanzas Awakening to loss • The speaker (presumably “Donna”) laments the death of someone close to them (”Joshua”). We learn something of their relationship and the loss felt by the speaker. • The speaker expresses the uselessness of trying to move on from their loss. The later three stanzas The mourner’s defiance • The speaker becomes argumentative, explaining to the lost love that no one has the right to tell them how or when to mourn. • In the end, the speaker embraces the repetition of loss, accepting the associated pain as a fair price for the memory of love now lost. The Last Word Elegy “A poem or song for the dead” • Compare and contrast the two elegies. While obviously Auden’s is a stronger composition, they touch on some similar themes. Consider how they are alike, and how they differ, both in content and in your reaction to them. Funeral Blues From “Four Weddings and a Funeral” Josh and Donna From “The West Wing”
