F08250_vdean

=[Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone]" by W.H. Auden (1936)= Victoria Dean

Stop all the clocks,cut off the telephone, Prevent the dogs from barking with a juicy bone. Silence the pianos amd with the 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 forever: 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.

Way 1: First Impressions
My initial impression of this poem is that it is an elegy about the loss of a loved one. The subject is a male, because the narrator refers to him as "he". The narrator has just lost the subject and is wishing for the world to stand still while they recover. "Stop all the clocks"(1) refers to the narrators desire for time to stand still. "Cut off the telephone"(1) is the narrators desire to be cut off from the outside world. " The narrator also makes a request to "Stop the dogs from barking with a juicy bone"(2) because they do not want others to feel joy while they are hurting so badly from the loss.

I am not certain if the loss was of a husband or a child because the narrator speaks of love but not a specific type of love. It is clear that the narrator feels very strongly for the subject refering to him as " my North, my South, my East and West"(9) saying that the subject is their entire world. That can be either a son or a spouse. Another hint about the importance of the subject is when the narrator says " I thought that love would last forever:I was wrong"(12) shows that the narrator feels they will never love another the way they loved the subject.

I think that the narrator is a female because the way she is talking sounds like a wife or a mother more than a father. I think that the subject was in the military because of the formality of the way the narrator wants to express the loss. The narrator wants "muffled drums"(3) which is common in military funerals, and requesting "traffic policemen to wear black gloves"(8) to signify a person of public importance.

Way 2: Engaging with the Text
The writer uses four stanzas with four lines each. The first two and the last two lines have a feminine rhyme in each stanza. An iamb is used on the last word of the first sentence of the first two paragraphs. The rhythm of the poem has a formal appeal that I believe is another clue that the subject was in the military. The rhythmic beat of the poem reminds me of the beating of a drum which ties in with a line form the poem. It creates a feeling of a funeral march. The words easily flow together, even when the emotions of the poem grow deeper. Reading it one feels like they are marching through the narrators feelings and getting deeper and deeper into despair. It is interesting how the beat takes the reader on a journey, much as the words do. This is important to the meaning of the poem because it shows that the narrator is used to staying formal in the public eye because of their lovers social status. The narrator is falling apart but still keeping to a strict pattern.

Way 3:A Point about Form and Its Relationship to Content
Auden used many types of figurative language in "[Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone]". The word "clocks" is to symbolize time itself and  "telephone" to symbolize a connection to the outside world (1). Imagery is used in the second line when decribing the dog's bone as a "juicy bone" to give the readers an image of the enjoyment of the bone for the dog. "Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead" is using both personification and a metaphor (5). Planes do not actually moan like a person but it is used to show the sadness of those around. Imagery is used again in line eight to describe the policemen's "black cotton gloves" to give the reader the perception of how the gloves looked and felt. The narrator choice the color black becuse it is usually associated with death. The author uses the words "He was my North, my  South, my  East and  West" as a symbol for the subject being the narrators "world", or a very important part of their life (9). "My working week" is a symbol used to show that the subject is what kept the narrator going during the week, and "Sunday rest" as a symbol showing that the narrator was able to lean on the subject for support (10). "The stars are not wanted now" is a metaphor to show that the narrator is not motivated to do anything anymore (13). It is a play off the saying "reaching for the stars" which describes somebody trying to achieve more in life. The narrator does not feel that push without the subject. "Pack up the moon and dismantle the  sun" is another metaphor used because one cannot really pack up the moon or dismantle the sun but the tenor is the way the narrator feels about their world falling apart (14). " Put away the ocean and sweep up the  wood" is a metaphor that further goes into the narrators feelings of hopelessness because they do not want anything beautiful in the world anymore without the subject.

Way 4: Unpacking an Instance of Figurative Language
In this poem, Auden uses a symbol in the second line of the poem when using the descriptions of a "juicy bone" to describe pleasure. For a dog, the best type of bone is a fresh and juicy bone and they derive pleasure out of it. The narrator is using the "dog...with a juicy bone" to stand for pleasure and happiness. She does not actually want dogs to no longer have bones, but wants the world to mourn along with her and not feel pleasure while she is upset about her loss. While she is asking to "prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone" she really wants others to be as upset as she is. This request ties into the theme of the first stanza, which is where the narrator is making requests on how she is emotionally cutting herself off from the world.

Way 4: Unpacking an Instance of Figurative Language
In the second stanza, Auden uses a symbol when referring to the "doves". Doves are birds normally used during a formal ceremony. Doves are commonly used to symbolize the end of a ceremony. The narrator is requesting the use of "public doves" which is a play on the formality of the use of doves. I think that the narrator is using the doves to symbolize respect that she has for the subject. The "doves" also acts as a closing of the theme of the first part of the poem. In the first part the narrator talks about the death as it relates to others, but in the second part she talks about only her personal grief.

Way 4: Unpacking an Instance of Figurative Language
In the third stanza, Auden uses "love" to symbolize for being together. Love does not stop once somebody dies. It is a feeling that does not require the reciprocation from another, therefore even thought the subject has passed on, the narrator can still love them and obviously does. The narrator is using "love" to stand for them being together. She says " I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong" to say that she thought that they would always be together but they are not. She does not literally mean that the love itself has ended. The use of love ties into the entire poem because the narrator is devastated about losing a person in her life that she loves.

Way 4: Unpacking an Instance of Figurative Language
In the last stanza, Auden uses "stars", "moon", and "sun" as symbols. The stars, moon, and sun are the natural sources of light. The narrator does not literally want somebody to "put out" the stars, "pack up the moon" or to "dismantle the sun", she is using those words to describe her wanting to be alone and her feeling of depression over the death of a loved one. It is her way of saying that she is giving up on life, love, and joy. During the poem she first talks about how she wants the world to mourn with her, then moves on to talk about her grief, and in the last stanza she has allowed the grief to overcome her and wants to give up on everything.

Way 5: Analyzing the Setting
The setting of the poem is at a funeral. I think that it is a funeral because the narrator says " Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come" which is what is done during a funeral or a wake. The way the narrator describes the formality of a funeral when she describes "put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves" and "let the traffic policeman wear black cotton glove" which policemen are commonly used to stop traffic and block an area off during a funeral. The setting is important to the poem because it explains why the narrator is so upset and feeling such depression. People feel the lowest during a funeral when they have to say goodbye to their loved ones.

Way 6: Identifying and Analyzing Point of View
The point of view of the poem is first person. This is show by the narrator using "My" and "I" in the poem. The poem shows only the feelings of the narrator and what the narrator is describing. It is important to use first person in this poem because the poem is about how the narrator feels after the death of a loved one. The narrator wants to be disconnected from the rest of the world and it would not have the same effect if somebody else was telling their feelings. Another point of view would take away from the point of the poem.

Way 7: Analyzing Complexity, Ambiguity, & Difficulty
Ambiguity is used to get double meaning out of a word. In [Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone], Auden uses ambiguity to get the idea of the poem across to his readers. An example of this is through the word "clock". According to dictionary.com, a "clock" is defined as "an instrument for recording time" and also has a slang meaning of "to strike sharply or heavily". I think that Auden wanted to incorporate both meanings in his poem. By "stop [ping] the clock" the narrator is requesting to stop the measurement of time, or simply stopping time itself. I think that the author also wanted to incorporate the slang meaning of the word to represent the feelings of the narrator. The death of the subject was like an emotional "knockout" to the narrator.

I do not think that this poem is complex or difficult to read. The author is forthright about what he is trying to say. He uses words that are easy to understand to represent the feelings of the narrator. The only difficulty that I can see from this poem would be if the reader did not understand figurative language. If one was not aware of the use of metaphors, this poem would be very difficult to understand because it would not be clear what the narrator was trying to say. They may wonder why the narrator is requesting to "prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone" if they were unable to see the true meaning behind the line, which is that the narrator is unable to see joy in the world.

Way 8: Consider Canonicity
This poem is about the loss of a loved one and the feelings of hopelessness of somebody left behind. Auden's use of imagery and metaphors helps contribute to the poems canonicity. It is easy to understand the theme of the poem by the first initial glance many of the lines require further scrutiny to determine what the narrator is really trying to say. Literary scholars, readers, and writers will want to study the lines to get inside the narrators head to decipher some of the hidden meanings of the poem. The theme of the loss of a loved one is something that can be understood by people from any era and is something that people will still be able to relate to years from now. The authors' use of two couplets per stanza is a clear clue that he was writing with a purpose, not simply putting a bunch of words together. I think that this is a poem that will last the test of time because it is well written pertaining to style, has a universally understood theme, and requires one to dive deep into the text to understand the full meaning.

Way 9:Biographical Context
W.H. Auden lived in the early 1900's. I think that Auden used the death of his lover's father as inspiration for this poem. He was involved with Christopher Isherwood during the time that he wrote this poem whose father died in World War I. (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/whauden.htm) It was written about the death of a political leader in a play, but I believe that he used the similarity of the loss of a soldier to bring about the formality of the poem.([|http://en.wikipedia.org]) I thought that it was a wife mourning the loss of her husband but I now think that he wrote it with the mindset of losing a lover. Auden was homosexual which was not well accepted in his time.([|http://en.wikipedia.org]) I believe that Auden used his feelings of a past relationship to describe the narrators feelings of losing the subject. When he says " I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong" he is describing how he felt when his lover ended the relationship. When somebody that you love cuts you out of their life, it can feel like a death.

Way 10: Historical and Cultural Context
During the time that this poem was written there was a depression going on in England. According to ThePeopleHistory.com many people adopted the idea of radical politics(http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1930s.html). Although this poem was written for a play, I think that it is aparent that his writing was going in this direction. Many of his comments can be taken faux respect like in the seventh line when he says " Put crepe bows round the necks of the public doves." I do not think that it would be a sign of respect to put the bows around "public doves". Another sign of hostory in the poem is when it talks about skywriting. Encyclopedia.com says that " The technique was first developed (1922) by J. C. Savage, a pioneer English aviator." So during the time that this poem was published,in 1936, skywritting was a relatively new invention.

Way 11: Theoretical Interpretation
 Looking at this poem as a psychoanalytic critic one would question the subconscious meaning behind the words the author chose to use. Why did the author use the word "moaning" in line five? I think that that would see the use of "moaning" as the authors underlying sexual desire. Through this word, he is combining the feelings of love and the passion behind the primal instinct of sex. What was the author truly meaning behind “I was wrong" in line 12? I think that a psychoanalytic critic would think that this was a sign of Auden’s internal struggle between his sexual preference and his religious views. Auden has a love and lust for men but is also strongly tied to the church where he is told that homosexuality is wrong. He is unsure of how is supposed to feel about love and worries that he may be going about it the wrong way, but cannot help how he feels.

Way 12: Another Theoretical Application
A feminist critic reading this poem would note that the narrator is too wrapped up in the subject. The narrator is not given an identity besides being someone mourning the loss of the politician. Why is "He" always capitalized? Why is the narrator portrayed as giving up on life without the subject? A feminist critic might say that "He" is capitalized to show male dominance in society. He is given a lordship over the narrator. One may also see the attitude of the narrator as mirroring the idea that a woman is nothing without a man. The fact that a man wrote this poem would anger a feminist critic because he is devaluing the narrator due to the loss of the man in her life. A true woman would be sad but also strong, but from a males point of view, she should just roll over and die too.

Way 13: Unifying Interpretation.
This poem is a eulogy for a politician and was written for a play. The author shows the formality through the rhythm of the poem. Even though the narrator is heart broken, she still keeps her composure by keeping a drum like beat to the poem. The narrator uses many symbols and metaphors to show her pain and sorrow. Thru lines like "cut off the telephone" and "cut off the telephones" in the first stanza and "the stars are not wanted now" and "for nothing now can ever come to any good."(1,13,16) the narrator is showing she feels like her life is over because off his death. During the time period that this was written, women were usually measured by their husbands' stature. This shows why she feels that her lovers life ending also equals her life ending. Feminist critics would probably be upset that the narrator is allowing her identity to be wrapped up in a man. This poem has a very smooth flow and was easy to read. The only difficulty I had reading this poem was for personal reasons. I can imagine that anybody reading this poem while dealing with the death of a close family member may have a hard time getting through this poem. The emotions in this poem are very real, when one loses anybody close, they do disconnect from the world for some period of time. Somebody else's death can show those left behind their won mortality. I think that Auden was showing many meanings from the opening line "Stop all the clocks" (1). Ambiguity is apparent when one looks up the word "clock". According to dictionary.com, "clock" means both "an instrument for recording time" and the slang meaning of "to strike sharply" (dictionary.com). The narrator wants both for time t stop and feels like they have emotionally been struck by the loss. It can be upsetting to know that when somebody dies, life will still go on. Unfortunately, the feeling of loss and pain will always be something that people can relate to and thus adds to the canonicity of the poem along with the use of figurative language. Auden uses first person point of view because of the theme of the poem. It would not have the same impact if the emotions came form somebody else. The main focus of the poem is a personal loss which allows the reader to connect with the narrator. The setting of the poem also plays into the overall meaning. The narrator wanting somebody to "bring out the coffin" shows that this is at a funeral. This would explain why the narrator is so devastated, since emotions are heightened at a funeral (4). My initial impression of the poem was not far from the main theme which shows that the poem is direct about it's intentions. After exploring all of the "Ways" I can look at this poem, I am able to connect with the author on a more personal level.

Work cited: "clock" Dictionary.com. 1 November 2008. 2008. Dictionary.reference.com //Liukkonen, Petri. “W.H. Auden (1907-197)3-WynstanHugh Auden.” kaupunginkirjasto 2008.// // 20 November 2008 ////. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/whauden.htm // " [|skywriting] ." __The__ __ Columbia ____ Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition __. 2008. //Encyclopedia.com.// 2 Dec. 2008 < [|http://www.encyclopedia.com] >. The People History. "1930's England ". 2008 Copyscape. 20 November 2008. http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1930s.html //Wikipedia. “W.H.Auden”// // 19 November 2008 //// .20 November 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.H._Auden // //. //