Poetry in Movies: Four Weddings and a Funeral
Ivan M. Granger March 8th, 2008
This weekend I started asking myself, What are some of the best uses of poetry in the movies? I can think of a handful of movies about famous poets, and a few more that use poetry in a powerful way — though, when I started writing them down, the list was not very long.
One of the first movies that I wrote down was “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” I still find the movie to be very funny. How can you go wrong with an appearance by Rowan Atkinson as a stuttering priest performing his first wedding ceremony? But the emotional heart of the movie, the scene that stays with you longest, is John Hannah’s truly moving reading of W. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues” read for his dead partner…
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Four Weddings and a Funeral (DVD) |
Funeral Blues
by W. H. Auden
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 in the sky the message He is Dead,
Put crêpe 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 forever, 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.
The power of this mournful poem, and of John Hannah’s reading of it, can be found by doing a search on the Internet. Half the time you find reference to the poem, you’ll find reference to the movie as well.
What are your favorite uses of poetry in the movies?
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Hi Ivan ,
I want a happy song ,
in tune with the
soft melody
of a purple shade
in the sky .
Smile ,
manas
(Purple shade is in my blog , ” akash-smriti ‘ .)
sometimes the heart
must cry out
with the wind
beneath the violet sky
- Ivan
(I know, Auden’s poem is a gloomy one isn’t it, manas? But there’s something soothing, even healing about it, giving voice to the ache we all feel in the echo between heartbeats. If we find the source of that empty pang, I think life can open up in amazing ways…)
If we see
beyond seeing
that there may or may not be a source ,
the search for the source of empty pang
may actually be futile ,
the heart beats to it’s own tune ,
to it’s own whim and fancy ,
then probably
even closed life
may be soothing and
healing .
There are many ways to heal .
Each different from other ,
some opposite of the others .
I agree with you on one point .
“sometimes the heart
must cry out
with the wind
beneath the violet sky ‘
I liked these lines .
Thank you , Ivan .
Regards ,
manas
manas, you are raising a good question:
Who can suggest a movie that uses poetry in an uplifting way?
Hi manas and Ivan,
Auden’s poem beautifully expresses a moment of despair and loss. We all have them. It’s not gloomy in my opinion-it’s authentic and that is what I hear in it.
Warm regards,
Joanne
One of my favorites in “Splendor in the Grass”, based on William Inge’s play of the same name. The title is taken directly from Wordworth’s “Ode on the Intimations of Immortality.”
Mary Jeanne,
I’ll have to watch “Splendor in the Grass” again. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. Wordsworth’s “Ode on the Intimations of Immortality” has so many wonderful passages… I’ll have to read that again too.