H. Auden
H. Auden
becoming danger few forgotten grave life poor study today
Poor Poe! At first so forgotten that his grave went without a tomb-stone twenty-six years. . . today in danger of becoming the life study of a few professors.
thinking firsts study
There has been a vast output of critical studies in contemporary poetry, some of them first rate, but I do not think that , as a rule, a poet should read them.
history answers study
History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
alas alone animals cannot defeated help history left short stars time
The stars are dead; the animals will not look:/ We are left alone with our day, and the time is short and / History to the defeated / May say Alas but cannot help or pardon.
faces nicer places private public wiser
Private faces in public places / Are wiser and nicer / Than public faces in private places.
believe character children disease judges last stage true
Only those in the last stage of disease could believe that children are true judges of character.
architecture change house shining styles
Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at / New styles of architecture, a change of heart.
technique crafts sincerity
Sincerity is technique.
curate full room science shabby
When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a room full of dukes.
art culture earn fact money poet practicing sad talking
It's a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.
english-poet
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
voice
All I have is a voice.
pay-the-price people use
People always get what they want. But there is a price for everything. Failures are either those who do not know what they want or are not prepared to pay the price asked them. The price varies from individual to individual. Some get things at bargain-sale prices, others only at famine prices. But it is no use grumbling. Whatever price you are asked, you must pay.
games class action
No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called Games.