I'm in Love

Start all the clocks, connect the telephone,

Encourage the dog to bark with its juicy bone,

Play the pianos and with vibrant drum

Set up the party, let the dancers come.

Let aeroplanes circle smoothly above

Scribbling on the sky the message: I’m in love!

Put golden rings in the paws of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear sparkling red gloves.

She is my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

Our love will last for ever: I dream on.

The stars are more pretty now: let it shine one by one;

Show off the moon and assemble the sun;

Overflow the ocean and help flourish the woods,

For everything now comes to show how life is good.

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 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