Hello readers, This blog is assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. In this blog I am dealing with selected poems of W. H. Auden and its contemporary.
Present - time in Auden's poem
W.H.Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, England, on February 21, 1907. He moved to Birmingham during childhood and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. As a young man he was influenced by the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost, as well as William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Old English verse. At Oxford his precocity as a poet was immediately apparent, and he formed lifelong friendships with two fellow writers, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood.
Ever since, he has been admired for his unsurpassed technical virtuosity and an ability to write poems in nearly every imaginable verse form; the incorporation in his work of popular culture, current events, and vernacular speech; and also for the vast range of his intellect, which drew easily from an extraordinary variety of literatures, art forms, social and political theories, and scientific and technical information. He had a remarkable wit, and often mimicked the writing styles of other poets such as Dickinson, W. B. Yeats, and Henry James.
In this blog with reference to Auden's three poems which are 'Epitaph on a Tyrant', 'In Memory of W. B. Yeats' and 'Sept, 1 1939' I am going to answer the assigned question.
Auden's poems seem to be written in our times for 2022. Justify this in context of pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war.
‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’ is one of Auden’s short masterpieces. In just six lines, W. H. Auden (1907-73) manages to say so much about the nature of tyranny. You can read ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’ before proceeding to our short analysis of this powerful poem that remains all too relevant today.
W. H. Auden spent some time in Berlin during the 1930s, and it was here that he probably wrote ‘Epitaph on a Tyrant’, which was published in 1939, the year that the Second World War broke out. The specific tyrant Auden had in mind, then, was probably Adolf Hitler, though the poem can be analysed as a study in tyranny more generally, too.
As it is discussed, Auden’s poems are relevant in every period. Do we find any politicians with the same traits? Yes. With reference to the Ukraine- Russia war which again is read as the beginning of the third World war. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia since 2012.
‘In July 2016, Putin signed a new "anti-extremism" law that, among other things, limits the sharing of religious beliefs to state-registered places of worship only. Critics say this law is in violation of Russia's constitution, in that it effectively outlaws minority "foreign" religions whose churches and temples are rarely approved to be registered with the state.’
People easily sink with ideas of nationality, mother land, religion and together weeping a little adds emotional touch and society gets attracted with sympathy. These are also the traits used by dictators/ politicians to bind with the state.
‘In Memory of W. B. Yeats’ by W. H. Auden (1907-73) was written in 1939, following the death of the Irish poet W. B. Yeats in January of that year.As well as being an elegy for the dead poet, ‘In Memory of W. B. Yeats’ is also a meditation on the role and place of poetry in the modern world.
“But in the importance…..slightly unusual.” These last lines of the first part suggest that the world will go on very less people will feel absence or unusuality on the poet’s death. We never find any national holidays on the death anniversary of a poet or no national holiday is announced on poet’s death as on it is announced on the death of politicians like APJ Abdul Kalam and recently on the death of Singer Lata Maneshkar. This poem was published in 1939 and still the same situation prevails. We don't find any change of society or nation in behaviour towards the poets. Poets come and go and the world doesn't stop, here we find the world's refusal to indulge in sentimental public mourning on the poet's death.
Also, a number of people died in the Corona pandemic but it made no effect on the world except for a few minutes of empathy. World was affected with economical breakdown not with the number of deaths.
Decoding the underlying theme in September 1, 1939
Theme of the Lack of Acceptance of Homosexuality in Society.
T.S. Eliot in his essay ‘Tradition and Individual Talent' gives the 'Theory of Impersonal' which says ‘Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion but an escape from emotion, it is not the expression of personality but an escape from personality’. I.e. The personal feelings and emotions of the poet should not be involved in the poem and a poet should not be judged based on his poem/work. But when we read the poem we realise that without reading the autobiographical elements one cannot explore the poem completely. For e.g. W.B Yeats’ ‘The Second Coming’. The first interpretation of the poem is as a War poem but once we read the autobiographical elements of the poet's life and his experience of Influenza one can read the same poem with the Pandemic Lens, it provides con-temporariness and deeper meaning to the poem.
Similarly when we red the autobiography of W.H Auden it forces us to read the Poem ‘Sept 1, 1939’ with another interpretation else then how the dishonesty and manipulation of government can lead to war which is theme of the lack of acceptance of homosexuality in society.
According to Morgan Walker's essay in The Modern American, Auden’s love for Kalmann was very strong and it won't be possible that this matter has not affected his poetry September 1, 1939 which was written in the same year they met. This forces us to read the poem through the Queer theory.
What is Queer Theory?
The term “queer theory” itself came from Teresa de Lauretis' 1991 work in the feminist cultural studies journal differences titled “Queer Theory: Lesbian and Gay Sexualities.” She explains her term to signify that there are at least three interrelated projects at play within this theory: refusing heterosexuality as the .
Queer is often used as an umbrella term to denote sexual identity within a particular community. A queer community may be made up of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and so on. Some find queer an easy way to describe such a large community.
‘September 1, 1939’ was published during the world war, beginning of World War II which also gives us a view of the United States. The poet expresses political opinion about the war and how the governmental authority was working in that time. It is the primary interpretation of the war which is talking about Dishonesty of the government during the World War II but we can also read the poem from the secondary interpretation which is intolerance of homosexuality and as we discussed the autobiography of poet we can read the duality of the poem in reference of it.
Auden talks about the two different subjects in the same poem and that too very strongly. John G. Blair in ‘The Poetic Art of W.H. Auden’ writes about Auden's style and form, his style and form reflect his ideology in writing poetry and creates deeper meaning within theme.
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