This blog is written as a part of Sem 2 assignment submitted to the Department of English, MK Bhavnagar University.
Name: - Trushali Dodiya
Roll No: - 19
Semester: - 2(Batch 2022-24)
Enrolment number: - 4069206420220011
Paper No: - 107
Paper name: - The 20th Century Literature II
Paper code: - 22340
Topic: -Thematic Study of Auden’s Poems
Submitted to: - Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
Email Address: - trushalidodiya84@gmail.com
Thematic Study of Auden’s Poems
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Major Poems of Auden
Thematic study of Auden’s Poems
The Search for Meaning in a Chaotic World
Dictatorial Democracy
Love and relationship
The Power of language and Poetry
Conclusion
Introduction:-
Wystan Hugh Auden was a renowned poet born on February 21, 1907 in Yorkshire, England. (Spears)He was a major influence on 20th century poetry, with his first book, Poems, published in 1930 with the assistance of T.S. Eliot. However, just before the outbreak of World War II, Auden emigrated to the United States, where he met Chester Kallman, who would become his lifelong partner.
Auden's work was deeply concerned with moral issues, and his poetry often had a strong political, social, and psychological context. While his early poetry was heavily influenced by the teachings of Marx and Freud, his later work was more influenced by religious and spiritual ideas. Some critics view Auden as an anti-Romantic poet who sought clarity and order, and who was interested in finding universal patterns of human existence. (Mendelson et al.)
Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, as well as its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion. He used a variety of tones, forms, and content in his work. In 1948, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his poem The Age of Anxiety. Auden died on September 29, 1973 in Vienna, Austria.
Major Poems of W. H. Auden:-
Stop all the clocks
Autumn Song
Lullaby
Night Mail
Musée de Beaux Arts
In Memory of W. B. Yeats
September 1, 1939
If I Could Tell You
Make a Shield for My Son
The Shield of Achilles
Thematic Study of Auden’s Poems:-
The search for meaning and purpose in a chaotic world:
"The search for meaning and purpose in a chaotic world" is a recurring theme in W.H. Auden's poetry. Throughout his work, Auden incorporates the challenges of living in a world that seems to have lost its moral compass. He reflects on the difficulty of finding meaning and purpose in a world that is often characterized by violence, war, and political turmoil, which reflects the chaos and confusion of the time.
This theme reflects Auden's deep concern about the state of the world and the difficulty of finding meaning in it. The 20th century marks the great chaos in the world due to two World Wars. The peace of the worls was completely broken and people had to confront so many challenges to sustain. These two wars had disastrous effects on each and every aspect of life. This concern of the modern world has been rightly captured by Auden in his poems like, September1, 1939, The Shield of Achilles and The Unknown Citizen.
"September 1, 1939," is one of Auden's most famous poems, reflecting on the outbreak of World War II and the challenges of living in a world that seems to have lost its moral compass. The title of the poem, "September 1, 1939" is concerned with the events of this date in history: Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, and the outbreak of World War II. In this poem, Auden laments the loss of moral certainty and the breakdown of traditional values
The very first stanza of this poem describes this point precisely.
“Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.” (Auden)
In this poem Auden portrays a world full of fear and uncertainty during a tumultuous decade. The devastating impact of wars has left the world in a state of decay. The prevalence of dictatorial democracy, self-centeredness, and apathy towards others are contributing factors to this state of decay. Auden provides a broad overview of the world's condition, highlighting the key aspects that have brought it to its current state.
"The Shield of Achilles," (Auden) reflects on the horrors of war and the difficulty of finding meaning in the face of overwhelming violence. Depicting normal life in peacetime, it symbolizes the world beyond the battlefield, and implies that war constitutes only one aspect of existence.
“Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down,
Yet, congregated on its blankness, stood
An unintelligible multitude,
A million eyes, a million boots in line,
Without expression, waiting for a sign.”
"The Unknown Citizen," (Auden) satirizes the conformity and complacency of modern society. In these poems, Auden suggests that the search for meaning and purpose is an ongoing struggle, and that individuals must be willing to challenge the human condidtion in order to create a better world.
Dictatorial Democracy:-
The rise of democracy leads to dictatorship. Perhaps the rule of Hitler in Germany and many such dictators had put the world in the great disaster which is well captured by Auden in his poems like, September 1, 1939 and ‘Epitaph on A Tyrant’
In the third stanza of the poem September 1, 1939, Auden takes reference of the Ancient Greek aristocrat Thucydides (c.460- 400 BCE), author of The History of the Peloponnesian War, in which work are exposed the many weaknesses and corrupt practices of Athenian democracy. Both Auden and Thucydides were exiles writing outside their respective homelands but, whereas Auden’s exile was self-imposed, Thucydides was banished for twenty years by the Athenian government for incompetence as a naval commander in the Peloponnesian war. (“W.H. Auden and 'September 1, 1939'”)
By the example of Thucydides, Auden tries to depict the nature of Dictators, their language and lies.
All that a speech can sayAbout Democracy,And what dictators do,The elderly rubbish they talkTo an apathetic grave;Analysed all in his book,The enlightenment driven away,The habit-forming pain,Mismanagement and grief:We must suffer them all again.
In his poem "Epitaph on a Tyrant," Auden delves into the dangerous nature of tyrants, possibly referencing Hitler. The poem suggests that such leaders oversimplify things to prevent the use of intellectuality among the populace, ultimately leading to an aversion towards it. The sole focus of these dictators is war, which ultimately plunges the nation into deep despair.
Love and relationships:
Auden’s Poetry often explores the complexities of love and human relationship. His numerous Love lyrics tend to be two-tone, where joy and grief, "celebration and regret", 'sexual access and emotional failure' go hand in hand. 'Tell Me the Truth About Love'- a small volume of poems deals with the same concept.(Rawlinson)
According to Rawlinson, the first poem in this collection, "O Tell Me the Truth About Love," portrays various images and aims to convey the truth about love precisely and concisely. "As I Walked Out One Evening" is a conventional love song that celebrates nature and joy, while "Lullaby" depicts a lover who broke lens in moral terms and during the shared night of love his own faithlessness. "The More Loving One" explores the common experience of inequality in a relationship through introspection, balancing the familiar and the ironic with its colloquial dialect. It explores the tension between the fleeting nature of love and the enduring power of poetry.
The power of language and poetry:
Auden stands out among poets of our time for his exceptional ability to capture attention by utilizing vernacular language. One of the striking qualities of his poetry is the sheer force of his words, which have a remarkable ability to seize and engage readers. While the modernist poets of the previous generation recognized that poetry had lost its universal audience, they responded with a tone of weary futility (Eliot), threatening obscurity (Pound), or embittered rage (Yeats).
“For poetry makes nothing happen: it survives
In the valley of its making where executives
Would never want to tamper, flows on south
From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs,
Raw towns that we believe and die in; it survives,
A way of happening, a mouth.” (Auden)
“Follow, poet, follow right
To the bottom of the night,
With your unconstraining voice
Still persuade us to rejoice;” (Auden)
The importance of poetry in the world is highlighted in these lines of the poem. When Auden says, "For poetry makes nothing happen," he is acknowledging the limitations of poetry as a tool for social and political change. He once admitted in an interview that his poetry did not contribute to changing the fate of a single Jew during the Second World War. Similarly, Yeats was also a prominent voice during World War I, but he was unable to make any significant changes. However, Auden also suggests “follow the poet, follow the right”. In the final stanza, he urges us to let the healing fountain start in the deserts of the heart, which means that even in a barren world, the pursuit of truth and the effort to spread awareness can bring about positive change. Auden's words remind us that while poetry may not be a direct catalyst for change, its power lies in its ability to inspire and move people towards the right path.
The Tension between Individualism and Community:
Another major theme in W.H. Auden's poetry is the tension between individualism and community. Auden was deeply interested in the ways in which individuals relate to one another and to the larger society. His poetry often explores the struggle to balance individual freedom and autonomy with the need for social cohesion and responsibility.
One of Auden's most famous poems that deals with this theme is "The Unknown Citizen." The poem is a satire of modern society's obsession with conformity and the suppression of individuality. In the poem, Auden describes a man who has lived a life of complete conformity to the expectations of society. He writes:
“He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint” (Auden)
In this poem, Auden critiques the tendency of society to value conformity and anonymity over individuality and creativity. He suggests that the true measure of a person's worth cannot be found in their ability to conform to social norms, but rather in their ability to express their unique individuality.
Another poem that deals with the tension between individualism and community is "In Memory of W.B. Yeats." In this poem, Auden talks about the death of the famous poet W.B. Yeats and the relationship between the individual artist and the society. He writes:
“For poetry makes nothing happen: it survives
In the valley of its making where executives
Would never want to tamper, flows on south
From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs,” (Auden)
In this poem, Auden suggests that art and creativity have the power to transcend the limitations of the individual and connect people to one another in a larger community. He suggests that the artist's role is to create a sense of shared experience and meaning that can bring people together in a way that transcends individualism and promotes a sense of shared humanity.
Conclusion:-
To Conclude, W. H. Auden’s Poetry is marked by deep engagements with a wide range of themes. Most of his poems are the portrayal of his experiences and this is what has been reflected in his poems. Through his poetry, Auden offers insights into the complexities of the human experience and the struggle to find a place in a rapidly changing world. His work continues to be widely read and admired for its depth of feeling, intellectual rigor, and enduring relevance.
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Works Cited
Auden, W. H. “In Meamory of W. B. Yeats by W. H. Auden - Poems | poets.org.” Academy of American Poets, 1939, https://poets.org/poem/memory-w-b-yeats. Accessed 29 March 2023.
Auden, W. H. “September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden - Poems.” Academy of American Poets, October 1939, https://poets.org/poem/september-1-1939. Accessed 28 March 2023.
Auden, W. H. “The Shield of Achilles by W. H. Auden - Poems | poets.org.” Academy of American Poets, 1952, https://poets.org/poem/shield-achilles. Accessed 28 March 2023.
Auden, W. H. “The Unknown Citizen by W. H. Auden - Poems.” Academy of American Poets, 1939, https://poets.org/poem/unknown-citizen. Accessed 28 March 2023.
Mendelson, Edward, et al. “W. H. Auden.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/w-h-auden. Accessed 28 March 2023.
Rawlinson, Zsuzsa. “‘If Equal Affection Cannot Be, / Let the More Loving One Be Me’: Auden on Love.” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), vol. 14, no. 1, 2008, pp. 67–81. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41274408. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
Sansom, Ian. “The right poem for the wrong time: WH Auden's September 1, 1939.” The Guardian, 31 August 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/31/wh-auden-september-1-1939-poem. Accessed 28 March 2023.
Spears, K. “W. H. Auden | British poet | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 February 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/W-H-Auden. Accessed 28 March 2023.
“W.H. Auden and 'September 1, 1939.'” The London Magazine, https://thelondonmagazine.org/article/w-h-auden-and-september-1-1939/. Accessed 28 March 2023.
“WH Auden: 'my only duty as a poet is to defend the use of language' - archive, 4 Sept 1970.” The Guardian, 4 September 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/04/wh-auden-only-duty-as-poet-is-efend-use-of-language-1970. Accessed 29 March 2023.
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