Funeral Blues

Self-study activity: Watch this clip from Four Weddings and a Funeral.

1. What do we learn from Gareth's (the deceased person) appearence, personality and interests?



2. Watch the video again and fill in the gaps in the poem with the words given. Notice the rhyme.
    come / glove / sun / wrong / bone / dead / rest / wood

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy _________ (1),
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners _________ (2).

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbiling on the sky the message He is_________ (3),
Put crépe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton _________ (4).

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday _________ (5),
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would Iast forever; I was _________ (6).

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the _________ (7);
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the _________ (8);
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

3. Get together with a friend or record yourself to describe a typical funeral in Spain.

Key:
1. fat / terribly rude, hospitable, joyful, splendid, replete, big-hearted / loved experimental cooking, drinking, loved waistcoats
2. 1bone 2come 3dead 4gloves 5rest 6wrong 7sun 8wood

You can read the script of this clip here.

This activity is based on an exercise from Headway Intermediate, Oxford University Press