Modernist & 20Th Century Poets Codexery

W. H. Auden

British-American poet noted for stylistic and technical achievement across political, moral, love, and religious themes.

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W. H. Auden

via Wikipedia: W. H. Auden · see source

Wystan Hugh Auden was a British-American poet born 21 February 1907 and died 29 September 1973.[1] His debut collection, Poems, brought him widespread notice in 1930.[2]

Life and work

Auden was born in York, England, the third of three sons, to a physician father and a mother who trained as a missionary nurse.[3] In 1925 he went up to Christ Church, Oxford, with a scholarship in biology, then changed to English.[4] He began five years as a schoolmaster in boys' schools in 1930, teaching at Larchfield Academy and the Downs School.[5] In 1935 Auden married Erika Mann in a marriage of convenience to provide her with British nationality when the Nazis intended to revoke her German citizenship.[6][7]

Auden and Isherwood sailed to New York City in January 1939, entering on temporary visas.[8] He was raised in a home that practiced Anglo-Catholicism, and he attributed his fondness for music and language in part to the religious services he attended as a child.[9] T. S. Eliot accepted Auden's first commercially published book, Poems (1930), for publication by Faber & Faber in 1930.[5] His 1947 long poem The Age of Anxiety earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.[2]

What the cited sources add

A 2007 article in The Independent describes how Auden was drawn to the North Pennines, getting tipsy on martini and sitting at the honky-tonk piano to bash out some Brahms.[10] The same article quotes Auden writing that "Tramlines and slagheaps, pieces of machinery,/ That was, and still is, my ideal scenery".[10] Auden tended to break library rules by writing in his library books, according to the Swarthmore archive.[11] The Auden Musulin Papers, a digital edition of Auden's letters to Stella Musulin, offer a window into his life in Austria.[12][13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The date on the death certificate; the 28 September date on his grave was an error. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carpenter (1981) pp. 1–12.; The name Wystan derives from the 9th-century St Wystan, who was murdered by Beorhtfrith, the son of Beorhtwulf, king of Mercia, after Wystan objected to Beorhtf; Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. I, ed. Peter Townend, 1965, Auden formerly of Horninglow pedigree (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carpenter, "W. H. Auden: A Biography", George Allen & Unwin, 1981; Mendelson, "Auden, Wystan Hugh (1907–1973)", January 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carpenter, "W. H. Auden: A Biography", George Allen & Unwin, 1981; Auden 1973 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lebor, "Surviving Hitler, Choices, Corruption and Compromise in the Third Reich", Simon & Schuster, 2000 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Martin, "Why Auden Married", 24 April 2014. facts only, no text reused. nybooks.com
  8. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carpenter, "W. H. Auden: A Biography", George Allen & Unwin, 1981 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carpenter, "W. H. Auden: A Biography", George Allen & Unwin, 1981; ; Mendelson, "Auden, Wystan Hugh (1907–1973)", January 2011; Davidson, "The Idea of North", Reaktion Books, 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Partridge, "North Pennines: Poetry in Motion", The Independent, 23 February 2007. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
  11. "W.H. Auden at Swarthmore", archive.swarthmore.edu. facts only, no text reused. archive.swarthmore.edu
  12. Andorfer, "Auden Musulin Papers: A Digital Edition of W. H. Auden's Letters to Stella Musulin", Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2022. facts only, no text reused. amp.acdh.oeaw.ac.at
  13. Wikipedia, "W. H. Auden" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nachrichten, "Gedenkstätte für W. H. Auden in Kirchstetten neu gestaltet", salzburg.com, 8 September 2015; Carpenter, "W. H. Auden: A Biography", George Allen & Unwin, 1981; Quinn, Justin (2013). "At Home in Italy and Austria, 1948–1973." Sharpe, Tony (ed.) W. H. Auden in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 56–66.; Andorfer, "Auden Musulin Papers: A Digital Edition of W. H. Auden's Letters to Stella Musulin", Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2022; Frühwirth, "'I Can' en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article W. H. Auden (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In which place was W. H. Auden born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is York, England.

From the source: “Auden was born at 54 Bootham, York, England, to George Augustus Auden (1872–1957), a physician, and Constance Rosalie Auden (née Bicknell; 1869–1941), who had trained (but never served) as a missionary nurse.”

2. In what year did W. H. Auden die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1973.

From the source: “Wystan Hugh Auden ( ; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone,”

3. In what year was W. H. Auden born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1907.

From the source: “Wystan Hugh Auden ( ; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone,”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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