Loss Of Friend: "Funeral Blues" By Wystan Hugh Auden

Grief is the human response to traumatic loss of a loved one. Funeral Blues by Wystan Hugh Auden is a poem about how he deals with the loss of his friend. The theme of this poem is denial, and isolation, and the tone of it is very somber, and abrupt. This is shown through the diction used, for example, the word cut-off was used instead of disconnect. Goon too soon is a song written by Michael Jackson in honor of his late friend. The theme of this song is about accepting death, and the tone is solemn, and reminiscent of old times. This is also shown by the diction, such as fading into the twinkling eye. Both the texts convey two different interpretations of grief.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, right away the author of the poem sets a mood of silence. This is a hyperbolic phrase that is foreshadowing the events of the funeral. The stopping of the clock symbolizes the end of a life, and how once a person dies their time is up. It could also mean stopping the annoying ticking of the clock. Cutting off the telephone symbolizes how he would be cut off, and disconnected from his dead friend. This sets a very quiet, and nerves setting for the rest of the poem. Alternatively, the song portrays a more acknowledging tone. The song writer uses a simile to compare the deceased to a rainbow. ‘Like a rainbow, Fading in the twinkling of an eye, Gone too soon’. This simile is referring to his dead friend, who was gone too soon, as a person with a bright and colorful personality, just like a rainbow. However all rainbows disappears, if the rain stops, or if the clouds cover the sun, this could represent how all the color in Michael Jackson's life disappeared with the death of his dear friend. Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. In this hyperbole, the writer is asking nature to become a part of his grieving. He no longer has interest in things such as stars, the ocean and the woods. He does now want to see these things anymore as they remind him of the memories that he can no longer experience. He might become so frustrated with the constant reminders, that he would rather just let go, and isolate himself from the memoried.

Similarly, Michael Jackson also uses natural images to represent his grief. ‘Like a sunset, Dying with the rising of the moon, Gone too soon’. This simile, once again, compares the long gone friend to the sun. He did so indirectly in a previous verse ‘Shiny and sparkly, And splendidly bright, Here one day, Gone one night’. A shiny, and sparkly person is usually one who radiate positivity, and light, and like a star brighten up any place. The word dying was the first word with a harsh negative connotation that was used throughout the song. Whereas, in other verses words such as “fading, ” “loss” and “gone” were used. Michael referred to the moon as being the disease that took over his friends life, and was the cause of his death. The writer was dependent on his friend. ‘My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;’. He was the reason the writer worked, and the reason the writer took rests. The writers mornings, and nights were perfectly intertwined with that of his deceased friend. He was also in tune with the communications, and harmony of his friend. He became so dependent that once his friend passed, he had nothing left to depend on.