Origins

[stoutfellow]

Some time back I commented on the Kenny Rogers / Whitney Duncan duet "My World Is Over", which I love. Over on Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog, they're discussing poetry, and someone just brought up - and quoted in full - W. H. Auden's "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone". It seems obvious that the songwriter (Rogers, I assume) knew the Auden poem. The lyrics aren't a close match, but they're close enough.

Auden:

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.

Rogers:

So sweep away the sand and dry the ocean,
And just pack the moon and stars up in a cardboard box
And stop the clocks from chiming
Block the sun from shining
And paint the sky a deeper shade of blue
'Cause my world's over without you

(Auden's poem also, as the title suggests, makes mention of stopping clocks.)