The mans knowledge of history and authors is vast and it shows in his poetry. It is commonplace to say that our civilization is built on the ruins of greece. Auden, also known as wystan hugh auden, was a poet, author and playwright born in york, england, on february 21, 1907. His first book, poems, was published in 1930 with the help of t. English poet, playwright, critic, and librettist wystan hugh auden exerted a major influence on the poetry of the 20th century. The selected poems include all of auden s most famous work and cover the whole breadth of his career. Auden s poetry is so rich, so complex, yet so indicative of ones feelings in life, that i cannot see how anyone can remain unmoved by it. Auden s splendid anthology locates the truth behind the truism, while filling in the gaps in our knowledge of a people who gave us so much of our cultural legacy. Auden 19071973 wrote a great deal of poetry, with many of the best auden poems being written in the 1930s. Auden s singular poem critic ian sansoms deeply informed and unapologetically digressive new book dives into auden. Auden s poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form and content. Later in life, auden revised parts of some poems and even omitted some well known poems from his collected works. Auden is a much neglected poet, until something happens like 911 and someone realizes that he has spoken of just such an event in his poetry. Critics have noted that audens early verse suggests the influences of.
The best auden poems selected by dr oliver tearle w. Auden has 260 books on goodreads with 73683 ratings. Auden was a leading literary influencer in the 20th century. Auden was admired for his unsurpassed technical virtuosity and ability to write poems. His first book of poems was published in 1930, followed by a dozen volumes of shorter and longer poems. This is a wonderful book for those who love audens work. In this post, weve taken on the difficult task of finding the ten greatest auden poems difficult because, although. Auden was admired for his unsurpassed technical virtuosity and ability to write poems in nearly every imaginable verse form. His first book of poems was published in 1930, followed by a dozen volumes of. Auden grew up in birmingham, england and was known for his extraordinary intellect and wit. He collaborated on three plays with christopher isherwood and wrote books about his travels to iceland with louis macneice and wartime china with christopher isherwood.
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