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O-LevelLiterature in EnglishPoetry2010/12 · Oct/Nov 2024 · Q125 Marks

Remember to support your ideas with details from the writing. Read this poem, and then answer the question that follows it: Funeral Blues 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 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 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. (W H Auden)

  1. In what ways does Auden use words and images to powerful effect in this poem?

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2024). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

  1. [N/A] This mark scheme uses generic level descriptors for essay questions, rather than specific marking points per question.

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About this question

Topic
Poetry, O-Level Literature in English (syllabus 2010). Structured question, 25 marks.
Source
O-Level Literature in English, Oct/Nov 2024 Paper 1 Variant 2, question 1.

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