MISS HELEN SLINGSBY was my maiden aunt,
And lived in a small house near a fashionable square
Cared for by servants to the number of four.
Now when she died there was silence in heaven
And silence at her end of the street.
The shutters were drawn and the undertaker wiped his feet—
He was aware that this sort of thing had occurred before.
The dogs were handsomely provided for,
But shortly afterwards the parrot died too.
The Dresden clock continued ticking on the mantelpiece,
And the footman sat upon the dining-table
Holding the second housemaid on his knees—
Who had always been so careful while her mistress lived.

Poet: T.S. Eliot
Poem: 7. Aunt Helen
Volume: Prufrock and Other Observations
Year: Published/Written in 1917

Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Aunt Helen, has received 36 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own.