Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- To whom does the speaker address his poem? How can you tell? What's the effect of this point of view?
- What is the effect of all of the poem's hyperbole? Does it make the speaker's grief seem more or less intense to you? How might this relate to the poem's history?
- Why does the speaker make so many references to the natural world? What's the effect of all the references to the moon and stars, etc.?
- How does the poem's rhyme scheme affect its meaning? Why do you think Auden chose the rhyme scheme that he did? And what about the meter?
- Watch the famous scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral in which one of the characters recites "Funeral Blues." Does this rendition of the poem change the way that you think about it?