Who are these people? What reasons can you come up with to fear them?

Lesson objectives: To understand what the poem ‘O What Is That Sound’ by W.H.Auden is about. To analyse how the poet has used language and structure to convey thoughts, feelings and ideas.

W.H. Auden - the poet Auden was an Anglo-American poet (he was British but got himself American citizenship). He is regarded as one of the leading writers of the 20th century, although he himself was uncomfortable with this. He wrote about religion, love, time, citizenship and the struggle between humans and nature. His early work, which includes O What Is That Sound, were much more dramatic that his later work. In the early work he was often preoccupied by the thought that society destroyed itself.

Initial Thoughts What is the storyline? How many people are speaking? What do you think the relationship between the speakers is? Who is worried and why? How are they trying to make themselves less afraid? Does it work? What do you think happens at the end? Use evidence to back up your ideas.

Initial Thoughts It is open to interpretation, but one reading of this poem suggests that the first speaker is a rebel who is being sought out by the army. The poem involves two speakers. The relationship between the two speakers is often viewed as a relationship between husband and wife/ lovers. The first speaker is much more worried that the second speaker and seeks reassurance. It doesn’t come.

Who speaks which lines? Who is the betrayer and who is the betrayed? The man (who speaks in lines 1-2 of each stanza except the last, which is spoken by the poet) is a traitor or rebel who is hiding out with his mistress in a house on a mountainside; he is the "quarry" wanted by the soldiers. Knowing himself wanted, he is alarmed at the sound of troops in the distance, and his terror mounts as they approach. When they leave the road (stanza 4), he kneels so as not to be visible through the window. (In stanzas 2-4 his questions concern what he sees through the window; in subsequent stanzas he is dependent on the woman to report what she sees.) Having no reason to think his hiding place known, the man tries to convince himself that the troops are headed elsewhere--the doctor's, the parson's, or the farmer's--but they are coming for him. They come directly; they do not have to search or make inquiries; obviously, they have been tipped off. Who has tipped them off? Clearly the woman, whose vows have indeed been "deceiving," and who may be a secret agent. At any rate, she has betrayed him, just as he has previously betrayed, or plotted against, the government of his country. Her knowledge of the situation accounts for her coolness, so markedly in contrast to the hysteria of the man, and her purpose has been, by minimizing the import of the situation, to hold the man in the house until the soldiers can get there. (The drumming sound, she tells him, is "only" the soldiers, and they are "only" performing "their usual manoeuvres.") When it is too late for him to make a break, she leaves, so as not to witness any violence.

Who speaks which lines? Who is the betrayer and who is the betrayed? If the second speaker is a hunted (male) rebel, or indeed any political dissenter in any historical period, for whom survival and freedom to support his cause are more important than the person to whom he has sworn fidelity, then the ballad makes an important political and personal comment – that the deep vows of love are helpless in resistance to military oppression. The flight of the man is undertaken without consideration for his partner who is left to face the full weight of the invader, as the public world intrudes so violently on to that most sacred of private bastions, the household. The poem shows a man leaving the love of his life in the second part of the poem " No, I promised to love you, dear, But i must be leaving". the cause of the resistance is more important to him than the girl he loves. It is not specific enough to know whether the man is leaving to go and fight for his country. Or he could be deserting his wife in the terror. The vows that are made in marriage seem not to matter when it comes to values of your country and to fight for your country comes before anyone.

A Ballad: Simple rhyme scheme. Often has repetition. Narrative in form; it will tell a story. Often ends with violence, tragedy or betrayal. Question: Which of these features can you see in “O What is that Sound?”

What are the feelings of the first speaker in this poem? What is the second speaker feeling? Let’s annotate…

Plenary : our lesson objectives were: To understand what the poem ‘O What Is That Sound’ by W.H.Auden is about. To analyse how the poet has used language and structure to convey thoughts, feelings and ideas. In your own words, answer the following questions: What is ‘O What Is That Sound’ about? How do language and structure contribute to meaning?

Homework: complete the Changing Emotions worksheet. Due in: