Estava hoje a rever o "Four Weddings and a Funeral" e voltei-me a surpreender com este poema de 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 on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe 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 for ever: 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.
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 He Is Dead,
Put crepe 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 for ever: 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.

Dá um vista de olhos ao Público P2 de hoje (amizade Auden/Britten).
Ou consultar em http://jornal.publico.clix.pt/noticia/16-11-2009/auden-e-brittensexo-musica-e-poesia-18226106.htm.
Rui Vítor Costa
16/11/09 09:40Viva, Rui Vítor,
Já li a reportagem, muito interessante. Conhecia Britten de nome, e Auden apenas deste poema que aqui publiquei. Um grande maroto...
Tiago Laranjeiro
16/11/09 20:06