1. W. H. Auden (1907-1973) “Some books are undeservedly forgotten;
none are undeservedly remembered”
W. H. Auden ( )
Wystan Hugh Auden.

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W. H. Auden
2. Life
Born in 1907 at York of middle-class High Church Anglican parents.
At Oxford became the leader of the so-called “Oxford poets”, a group of left-winged intellectuals.
Deeply committed to social and political issues.
W. H. Auden.
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W. H. Auden
2. Life
In 1939 moved to New York and settled in a house in Brooklyn.
In 1940 began teaching in New York, and published Another Time.
W. H. Auden.
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W. H. Auden
2. Life
From then on his social poetry was to be anti-ideological, anti-political.
Returned to Anglicanism, the religion of his youth.
Developed a growing concern with poetics and difficult verse forms.
W. H. Auden.
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W. H. Auden
2. Life
In 1946 became a citizen of the USA.
In 1956 he was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford.
Died in 1973.
W. H. Auden.
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6. Auden’s English period
W. H. Auden
3. England vs. America
Auden’s English period
Influenced by Freud and psychoanalysis.
Psychological models in relation to the customs of an entire society.
Another influence was that of Karl Marx.
Took for granted the engagement of the individual with history.
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7. Auden’s American period
W. H. Auden
3. England vs. America
Auden’s American period
Withdrawal from political commitment.
Disillusionment with political events in Spain and the Soviet Union.
Did not want to be the leader of the intellectual left but simply a verbal artist.
Came to believe that improvement must begin within the self, not within society.
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8. W. H. Auden
4. Development of theme
Theme of quest = at first regards secular political interests
Theme of quest = later regards ethical concerns
Sorrow, the relationship between man and nature, alienation, love, death, transgression and renewal.
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9. 5. Style Mixture of modes and forms Mode Form
W. H. Auden
5. Style
Mixture of modes and forms
Mode
Form
Fictional, didactic, comic, contemplative, fantastic.
Free verse, metre, rhyme, popular forms such as ballads or songs.
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W. H. Auden
6. The figure of the poet
The role of poetry was to tell stories from which each person may draw his own conclusions according to their own immediate needs.
The poet’s task was to act as a public voice, to support the causes for freedom against tyranny.
W. H. Auden.
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