Tell Me the Truth About Love (1986)

I received this book from a friend. I am not a huge fan of rhyming poetry, but thought I ought to know more about Auden. My favorites in this collection are Song and Funeral Blues, but I am not sure I will seek out other works. ( )

"Funeral blues", after seeing Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Probably the first poem in English I truly read (after "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath). The beauty, the truth of it, the practicality of it almost. I do not know anything about W.H. Auden, and it doesn't matter, somehow. I almost do not want to know about his private life. The poem. like a well made painting, is enough.

While most poems fly over my head, Auden's poetry has always made sense to me. It's beautiful without being too abstract and it always seems to strike a chord for me. Auden had a wonderful gift for conveying emotion in only a few lines. This sweet collection includes one of my favorite poems, "Funeral Blues." Here's one section from the poem...

"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."

It just makes my heart ache. I also loved the poem "Lullaby," here's a taste...

"Not a whisper, not a thought, 
Not a kiss nor look be lost." ( )

Simply beautiful - love the Funeral Blues(i think for my funeral) and 'O tell methe truth about love " . all the selection is delightful and encourges on tho dream a little.

Ten lovely poems that try to describe just what is this thing called love. Two particular favorites: the light and lyrical "O Tell Me The Truth About Love" ("Some say that love's a little boy, And some say it's a bird, Some say it makes the world go round, And some say that's absurd...") and the incomparably crushing "Funeral Blues" ("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.") (JAF)