Famously used in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral




Funeral blues

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 aero planes 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 woods:
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H.Auden

I used this for a friends service a few years ago and it was received very well. It wasn't until after the service someone pointed out to me it had been used in the Four Weddings and a Funeral film. I have to admit I hadn't watched the film at the time but I have now. Since then it has become one of my favourite films.

Good Bless!

I believe this poem is more commonly known by its opening words, Stop all the clocks. One of my favourite poems ever written.

A wonderful poem and such a beautiful reading full of emotion and feeling. It almost had me in tears watching this.

Another unforgettable classic poem by W. H. Auden

A Thought on Death

When life as opening buds is sweet,
And golden hopes the fancy greet,
And Youth prepares his joys to meet,
Alas! how hard it is to die!
When just is seized some valued prize,
And duties press, and tender ties
Forbid the soul from earth to rise,
How awful then it is to die!
When, one by one, those ties are torn,
And friend from friend is snatched forlorn,
And man is left alone to mourn,
Ah then, how easy ’tis to die!
When faith is firm, and conscience clear,
And words of peace the spirit cheer,
And visioned glories half appear,
'Tis joy, 'tis triumph then to die.
When trembling limbs refuse their weight,
And films, slow gathering, dim the sight,
And clouds obscure the mental light,
'Tis nature's precious boon to die.
~ W. H. Auden