Stop All The Clocks Analysis

Referring closely to the language of the poets, explain how loss is presented in “Stop All The Clocks” and “The Voice.”

“Stop All The Clocks” and “The Voice” are both written by poets whom have lost a loved one, they express the pain and grief they have experienced but differ in responses and tone due to the time that has passed. In “Stop All The Clocks” W.H. Auden expresses the pain and anger he feels, and is written from the perspective of someone who has recently buried his loved one and is experiencing the immediate grief, this influences him to be extremely dramatic. In contrast, Thomas Hardy writes “The Voice” to profess the remorse he feels, after his estranged wife dies whilst they were separated, this influences the response to be

It is also strongly influenced by the closeness of the relationships. “Stop All The Clocks” is an immediate response to death, this is demonstrated through “Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come” as a funeral takes place soon after a person 's death. The tone of the poem exhibits anger and frustration; when demanding silence, in the first stanza, Auden uses imperatives displaying anger “Stop” “Silence” “Prevent.” He repeats his use of imperatives in the last stanza “put out” “pack up,” I can empathise with Auden as anger is a common response to death as the feeling of loss can be excruciating. He is unaware that, the feeling will eventually ease and he will only occasionally think of loss with happiness. Auden is unable to see a future and follows the five imperatives with a poignant declarative “For nothing now can ever come to any good” Auden does this to communicate the anger and sadness he is feeling. He also displays the agony he feels through his use of powerful verbs, ‘moaning” is a words associated with response to pain and ‘scribbling” shows frustration, like he is out of control; he is not able to manage his emotions. It is followed by the capitalisation of “He Is Dead,” by emphasising and pronouncing the diction, he is convincing and assuring himself of the reality. Hardy’s tone make is evident that he has responded to death very differently to Auden. Hardy does not display

Hardy begins to forget how she was during the time they were estranged but as before, “as at first when our day was fair” when they were in love. Hardy assures himself with “yes, as I knew you then.” Although the reader might believe this would make it harder for Hardy to move on, it could possibly do the opposite- Hardy can continue his life without having regrets, regarding how their relationship was before she died. Hardy visualises her in an “air-blue gown!” this is a romantic expression communicating how perfect she seemed to be. To convey how his loved one was everything to him, Auden uses a contrast in language in the third stanza, “My North, my South, my East and West” demonstrating how Auden was directionless once he died, how he was the entire world to him; all the coordinates. Auden wants everyone to share his grief, “Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone” “let the mourners come” as a response to death. I believe he wants to inflict his pain on everyone else after the loss of a loved one, because it is extremely painful to see others happy; he wants to share his grief. To further emphasise this, Auden declares how he wishes to broadcast his death to the world “Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves” “let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead.” Because of the loss of his partner, Auden begins to