Funeral Blues - Away, Melancholy Review

Which of the following best summarizes "Funeral Blues"?

• The poetic voice describes his best friend's horrible death.

• The poetic voice expresses grief over the loss of a loved one.

• A group of people sing and cry over the death of someone famous

• The poetic voice remembers good times about a loved one who has died.

Answer explanation

There are no descriptions of the person who died or concrete details of either their past or their death. All we find is a speaker who expresses grief because someone dear to them died.

The poem is best classified as...

• a ballad

• a sonnet

• an elegy

• a blues

Answer explanation

an ELEGY is a poem of mourning. Written in a somber style, it reflects seriously on death and on the person who has passed.

The poem's title:

• refers to the speaker's sadness over someone's death

• refers to a mournful music that expresses grief

• connects poetry with music

• all of the above

To emphasize the speaker's desperation and urgency, the poet uses many verbs...

• that relate to nature

• that imply sadness

• in imperative form

• that signify movement

What does moaning mean?

• make a long, low sound expressing physical or mental suffering

• complain persistently or in an irritating way

• the making of a long, high-pitched cry of anger

• to make a short, soft, muted sound.

The speaker demands all of the following EXCEPT

• the muting or elimination of all sounds

• public recognition of the person's death

• to be left alone to mourn

• the extinction of nature and celestial objects

The third stanza differs most from the other three in its

• topic

• perspective

• rhyme scheme

• theme

Answer explanation

The main difference between the third stanza and the rest is that the third one is more emotional and in past tense: it dwells on what the person WAS before they died, not on the present pain. The contrast between how important this person was in the past and the present emphasizes the sense of loss.

There is no rhyming pattern in this poem

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The rhyme scheme is regular: AABB CCDD

EEFF GGHH

Which is NOT a symbol in the poem?

• clocks

• black

• North

• traffic

Which is the sense that predominates in the first stanza?

• Hearing

• Sight

• Touch

• Smell

Answer explanation

The first stanza is asking for silence (of the dog, the pianos, the drums, the telephone) --> hearing is the predominant sense evoked.