W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Audenwas an English poet, who later became an American citizen. He is best known for love poems such as "Funeral Blues," poems on political and social themes such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles," poems on cultural and psychological themes such as The Age of Anxiety, and poems on religious themes such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae." He was born in York, grew up in and near Birmingham in a professional middle-class...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth21 February 1907
art thinking feelings
Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings.
prayer unique class
In a world of prayer, we are all equal in the sense that each of us is a unique person, with a unique perspective on the world, a member of a class of one.
poetic poet makers
A poet is a professional maker of verbal objects.
heaven hell slogans
The slogan of Hell: Eat or be eaten. The slogan of Heaven: Eat and be eaten.
new-year years people
The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears.
art believe simple
All works of art are commissioned in the sense that no artist can create one by a simple act of will but must wait until what he believes to be a good idea for a work comes to him.
people feelings telling-the-truth
My deepest feeling about politicians is that they are dangerous lunatics to be avoided when possible and carefully humored; people, above all, to whom one must never tell the truth.
art born humiliation
Art is born of humiliation.
love lasts enchantment
A false enchantment can all too easily last a lifetime.
believe writing double-standard
In relation to a writer, most readers believe in the Double Standard: they may be unfaithful to him as often as they like, but he must never, never be unfaithful to them.
healing heart relaxation
In the deserts of the heart Let the healing fountain start.
christmas friday easter
Christmas and Easter can be subjects for poetry, but Good Friday, like Auschwitz, cannot. The reality is so horrible it is not surprising that people should have found it a stumbling block to faith.
travel artist difficult
Of all possible subjects, travel is the most difficult for an artist, as it is the easiest for a journalist.
death war men
To save your world you asked this man to die; would this man, could he see you now, ask why?