श्याम जोशी, १७ वर्षे....Funeral Blues: Shyam Joshi and W H Auden

Today November 30 2017 is 17th Death Anniversary of Shyam Joshi (श्याम जोशी) 

I saw W H Auden's poem 'Funeral Blues', 1938 beautifully illustrated by Nathan Gelgud.

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 crepe 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 forever: 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.

(courtesy: the Estate of W. H. Auden)

The following is a portion of that illustration:

This reminded me of an equally moving cartoon, one of the best on the subject I have seen in my life,  by Shyam Joshi :