How does Auden treat the theme of love in his poems Lullaby and Funeral Blues

Essay by DeSgorHigh School, 12th grade November 2014

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Egor Granon

TS2

Auden poetry essay

How does auden treat the theme of love in his peoms ?

Funeral Bluesand Lullaby are two poems in which Auden treats the theme of love. Through this first one he explores love through a peom in the form of a classical elegy mourning the loss of a loved one whereas in the second Auden portrays love through more of a present situation thing where the speaker has his loved one in his arms and where he goes on to affirm the value of love in a world where everything ends. We will analyse how Auden treats the theme of love in each of his poems.

Auden begins Funeral Blues by calling for silence of the everyday objects of life, he wants to "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,/ Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone".The poet is asking himself how everything can be so normal after what has happened and how life can just move on.

He wants everyone to show their respect with total silence, for them to all be aware of the passing of his loved one and the pain this is giving him. He wants to be able to mourn the loss of his loved one in complete peace and calm and no better way to do this but when life and humanity is frozen still. The poet wants to let the "aeroplanes circle moaning overhead/Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead," this clearly portrays the poets desire for the whole world to see and be aware of his loss, we imagine he is scared of this idea of being alone but also thinks his loved one deserves to be remembered by everyone which is why the traffic plicemen should "wear black cotton...