TWO SONGS FOR HEDLI ANDERSON

in
Selected Poems of W.H. Auden
by W. H. Auden
Vintage
I
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 e Is !ead,
Put cr"pe bows round the white necks of the public
doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
e was my #orth, my South, my $ast and %est,
&y working week and my Sunday rest,
&y noon, my midnight, my talk, my song'
I thought that love would last for ever( I was wrong.
)he 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.
*or nothing now can ever come to any good.
II
+ the valley in the summer where I and my ,ohn
Beside the deep river would walk on and on
%hile the flowers at our feet and the birds up above
-rgued so sweetly on reciprocal love,
-nd I leaned on his shoulder' .+ ,ohnny, let.s play.(
But he frowned like thunder and he went away.
+ that *riday near /hristmas as I well recall
%hen we went to the /harity &atinee Ball,
)he floor was so smooth and the band was so loud
-nd ,ohnny so handsome I felt so proud'
.S0uee1e me tighter, dear ,ohnny, let.s dance till it.s day.(
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But he frowned like thunder and he went away.
Shall I ever forget at the ;rand +pera
%hen music poured out of each wonderful star<
!iamonds and pearls they hung da11ling down
+ver each silver and golden silk gown'
.+ ,ohn I.m in heaven,. I whispered to say(
But he frowned like thunder and he went away.
+ but he was fair as a garden in flower,
-s slender and tall as the great $iffel )ower,
%hen the walt1 throbbed out on the long promenade
+ his eyes and his smile they went straight to my heart'
.+ marry me, ,ohnny, I.ll love and obey.(
But he frowned like thunder and he went away.
+ last night I dreamed of you, ,ohnny, my lover,
=ou.d the sun on one arm and the moon on the other,
)he sea it was blue and the grass it was green,
$very star rattled a round tambourine'
)en thousand miles deep in a pit there I lay(
But you frowned like thunder and you went away.
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