Stop All The Clocks

Folder: 
Favourite Poems

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.



W. H. Auden

Author's Notes/Comments: 

I absolutely love this poem. Studied it in school and it actually made the whole class cry.
Some IDIOTS think that I'm claiming to have written this poem myself. I am not claiming that. Hence the author's name being at the end of the poem. Thank you please.
"He was my North, my South, my East and West,"

Heartbreaking.

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jodie's picture

i love this poem 2 it was in a movie i watched a few months ago. Good taste!!
xxjoboxx

Graham Ballett-Young's picture

This is probably my all time favourite poem. When John Hannah recited it in Four Weddings and a Funeral it brought a lump to my throat. Fantastic.

Kristyn Libranda's picture

"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."

ABSOLUTLEY BEAUTIFUL<33

-Kristyn

Alex Cotham's picture

It's pretty good.

LaRae's picture

That IS an amazing poem. It's cool you decided to share it with us.