In this poem, the writer uses regular verse and traditional pattern of rhythm and rhyme to give impact to his unexpected imagery of the end of a relationship when he cuts himself off from the rest of the his life because his grief is too much. To describe the incredible pain and isolation of when someone you love leaves you and the way time seems insignificant, the writer starts the poem by reiterating the title, creating emphasis by his use of assonance of the monosyllables: Stop all the clocks.
Unlike Valentine, this poem incorporates a series of metaphors to describe the writers feelings instead of using one extended metaphor; he then continues to describe the suffering he feels and the way everything that used to have a purpose stops by using the atypical metaphor of a dog and a bone. To exemplify the way he feels his life has ended, he then uses metaphors associated with a funeral: Silence the pianos and with a muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.To show the end of happiness and the start of mourning, the writer includes the silencing of the pianos and then low thudding drums used at funeral to describe the phenomenal sadness he feels now the relationship is over. He includes the metaphor coffin to either represent his own emotional death he feels now he has lost something so valuable to him or to represent the death of the relationship. The second stanza further illustrates the engulfing pain this poem is describing.
To symbolise the feeling that everything in his life is also submerged in pain, the writer uses the word moaning to describe an aeroplane, followed by: Scribbling on the sky the message He is dead This line typifies the lackadaisicality he feels now nothing matters by using the word scribbling, which is given emphasis by the sibilance of sky. The fact that the message has been written on the sky shows the scale of the writers grief now the relationship has ended.To show the God-like significance his partner was in his life, he uses He with a capital; there is also emphasis on the three heavy monosyllables that creates a morose feel to the end of the line. The writer then expresses that all peace has now gone and is blemished and weighed down with death by referring to scrape bows around the white necks of the public doves. Auden continues to describe the inconsequentiality of the rest of the world as he pushes himself away from his life: Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
The third stanza of Our Love Now is different from the other two; instead of using metaphors related to everyday life he starts to explore his pain deeper by directly referring to how the loss of his partner will effect him, using metaphors of cosmic significance: He was my North, my South, my East and West To describe how life cannot go on without his beloved and how everything in his life is a reminder of pain, the writer expresses how every aspectof himself was associated with his partner: My working week and my Sunday restMy noon, my midnight, my talk, my song The last line of the stanza ends in I was wrong, which, similarly to He is dead, gives a sense of finality to the flow of speech by the use of heavy monosyllables; this live also references to love not lasting forever, concurring with the idea that the poem is about an end to a relationship, not a genuine death. The final stanza depicts the way he does not care for beauty any more; his immeasurable grief makes it impossible for him to appreciate anything anymore.His first line shows how items of beauty are no longer necessary: the stars are not wanted now. His second and third lines to the final stanza further illustrate the way nothing has any importance or significance to his life anymore; he uses metaphors of life-giving things being pushed away like litter: Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood. His final line summarises what the entire poem is demonstrating: For nothing can ever come to any good.
