H. W. Auden's Poems

[RGcincy]

I was unfamiliar with my assigned poet, W. H. Auden. I mentioned his name to an enamellist friend and she got all excited as she knew one of his most famous poems from its use in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. I’ve now have had a chance to read a number of his poems and find that time is a recurring theme. And in many of them, time is expressed using the symbol of clocks. Here’s a few examples:

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.
…
It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
 
(from “As I Walked Out One Evening”)     
 
___________________________________
 
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.
 
(from “Funeral Blues”)
 
___________________________________
 
You are the town and we are the clock.
We are the guardians of the gate in the rock
…
 
This might happen any day
So be careful what you say
Or do.
Be clean, be tidy, oil the lock,
Trim the garden, wind the clock,
 
(from “The Two”)
___________________________________
 
Clocks cannot tell our time of day
For what event to pray
Because we have no time, because
We have no time until
We know what time we fill
 
(from “We’re Late”)
 
I like the idea of making something that features clocks, not only because of their use in Auden's poems, but because enameling has been used to decorate clock faces. Next stage is to sketch out some ideas.

Rich

[Sandra]

I was unfamiliar with my assigned poet, W. H. Auden. I mentioned his name to an enamellist friend and she got all excited as she knew one of his most famous poems from its use in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. I’ve now have had a chance to read a number of his poems and find that time is a recurring theme. And in many of them, time is expressed using the symbol of clocks. Here’s a few examples:

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.
…
It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
 
(from “As I Walked Out One Evening”)     
 
___________________________________
 
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.
 
(from “Funeral Blues”)
 
___________________________________
 
You are the town and we are the clock.
We are the guardians of the gate in the rock
…
 
This might happen any day
So be careful what you say
Or do.
Be clean, be tidy, oil the lock,
Trim the garden, wind the clock,
 
(from “The Two”)
___________________________________
 
Clocks cannot tell our time of day
For what event to pray
Because we have no time, because
We have no time until
We know what time we fill
 
(from “We’re Late”)
 
I like the idea of making something that features clocks, not only because of their use in Auden's poems, but because enameling has been used to decorate clock faces. Next stage is to sketch out some ideas.

Rich

Love this idea!  Can't wait to see the sketches...

[smiles]

I was unfamiliar with my assigned poet, W. H. Auden. I mentioned his name to an enamellist friend and she got all excited as she knew one of his most famous poems from its use in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. I’ve now have had a chance to read a number of his poems and find that time is a recurring theme. And in many of them, time is expressed using the symbol of clocks. Here’s a few examples:

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.
…
It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.
 
(from “As I Walked Out One Evening”)     
 
___________________________________
 
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.
 
(from “Funeral Blues”)
 
___________________________________
 
You are the town and we are the clock.
We are the guardians of the gate in the rock
…
 
This might happen any day
So be careful what you say
Or do.
Be clean, be tidy, oil the lock,
Trim the garden, wind the clock,
 
(from “The Two”)
___________________________________
 
Clocks cannot tell our time of day
For what event to pray
Because we have no time, because
We have no time until
We know what time we fill
 
(from “We’re Late”)
 
I like the idea of making something that features clocks, not only because of their use in Auden's poems, but because enameling has been used to decorate clock faces. Next stage is to sketch out some ideas.

Rich

This is a nice theme. Are you planning on various clocks on separate elements to represent the different poems or just one clock symbolic of them all?

[RGcincy]

Love this idea!  Can't wait to see the sketches...

Thanks Sandra, your ArtJam gets me thinking

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This is a nice theme. Are you planning on various clocks on separate elements to represent the different poems or just one clock symbolic of them all?

Thanks! It will be more than one clock in some form of assemblage, still thinking through ideas

---

Some more thoughts on the theme of clocks. I selected a handful of elements from the poems:

All the clocks = many clocks in the piece
City = many towers and spires
Stop all the clocks = some hands not moving, gone, or fallen to the ground
Gate in the rock = city
Wind the clock = include a large key?

Clocks can symbolize people’s lives – small clock for a child, larger clocks for adults, a clock missing a hand showing illness, or if no hands, death.
Maybe a key to wind the clocks - implying an outside force to start the clock and keep it running.

First thought was a city with towers and spires, each holding a clock – but the clocks would be small and subservient to the towers, making the city more important than the clocks (people). Making the clocks dominant by making them bigger and divorced from their supporting towers seems better to me. The towers/spires can appear in the upper background while the city gate appears in lower right. 

A couple of sketches are attached. I do these on a whiteboard, erasing those I don't like, then taking a phone photo once I've done several. Not there yet, have to let my thoughts percolate more.

[RGcincy]

I let the subject percolate in my mind for a while and then when I sat down today to do a pencil sketch, a design quickly came to mind. So the photo shows what I'm going with. Now to start cutting metal!

[smiles]

Looks interesting and I look forward to the finished look. You mentioned the "key" as a symbol of the clock, have you thought to use it somewhere on the back like a cut out that could show the counter-enamel if this is a pendant or something where you could view the back of the piece?

[RGcincy]

Thanks! 

Right now I've sketched a key off to the side but I've also been thinking how to finish the back. This won't be a pendant but something that will stand on a base in the 6-8 inch range. I've thought of making it look like a windup clock (with a key in the back like you suggest) but it won't function like one (not this version at least!). I also need to think about the various times shown and what they may represent, the ones in this sketch are just placeholders.