The term "literary canon" refers to any books, stories, and poems considered the most persuasive pieces of a particular time period or place. Take 19th-century American literacy, for example: It is generally exposure to a version of a group of texts that has been established as representative of the essential historical movements, changes, and events that occurred in America during the 1800s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayW. H. Auden's poem "Stop all the clocks", also known as "Funeral Blues", was originally written in 1983, however an early version was published in 1936, but the poem in its final, familiar form was first published time in The Year's Poetry. in 1938. The poem was brought to a whole new audience when it was quoted in full in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral.WH Auden was an English poet, playwright, critic and librettist. Wystan Hugh Auden had a major influence on 20th century poetry. Auden won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for The Age of Anxiety, a universally recognized masterpiece. His poetry usually refers to moral issues and highlights a strong political, social and psychological context. Auden's poetry is considered versatile and creative and incorporates a wide range of scientific knowledge. Today he is considered one of the most accomplished poets who regularly wrote in traditional rhyme and meter. Funeral Blues is divided into four verses. The first two stanzas focus on mourning the loss of a dear friend. In the first stanza the speaker asks to stop the clocks, to cut off the telephone so it cannot ring, to hold the dog down with a bone to gnaw and to stop the sound of the pianos. However, to have the muffled drums accompany the coffin as it is carried out and the mourners arrive for the funeral. During a funeral it is normal for someone not to want to be disturbed by the noise of the world, also because you need time to grieve and remember the life that person had. The requests made by the speaker pave the way for the funeral. In the second stanza the requests differ. He goes on to call for planes to search the sky, writing a simple but powerful message in sky script (first used for advertising purposes by the Daily Mail in 1922, just over a decade before Auden wrote "Funeral Blues"). The message reading “He is dead” is scrawled across the sky. The crepe bows he wishes to place around the necks of public doves suggest that the speaker's grief is overwhelming. This makes it seem like he wants the rest of the world to mourn with him in peace. This is shown by the bows around the necks of the doves and the black cotton gloves, where black is associated with mourning. The third stanza makes it clear that the man who died was everything to the speaker. The dead man was the speaker's life, he was a guide and someone very close to the speaker. This suggests that the speaker is talking about more than just a friend and fears the loss of a lover. Auden himself was gay and the idea that poetry is a funeral by a male poet for a dead male lover. At the time this poem was written, that state of sexuality would have been widespread in the community and in various religions. The speaker thought his lover would always be around, but with three simple words, heartbreakingly uttered at the end of the stanza “I was wrong.” The final stanza then takes up a series of romantic analogies that are typically associated with poetry such as the stars, the moon, the sun and the oceans. As with the previous stanza, the power of poetry by.