Lit Week 2: Auden

Links to poems. The site with the Yeats poem also gives you a good introduction to Auden.

In Memory of W.B. Yeats

September 1,1939

If you want to write a written preparation, choose one of the two questions.

1. For “In Memory of W.B. Yeats:” The poem is divided into three different sections, each with a different stanza form. For this poem describe the differences between the stanza forms. Number of lines? Rhymes? Syllables? How does the change from one stanza form to the others contribute to the way Auden treats the death of a famous poet? Bonus question. Can you name the meter of the third section of the poem?

2. For “September 1, 1939:” First, find out why the date is important. Once you know what happened on that date, look at the way Auden presents notions of individual and collective existence. How does his presentation of each comment on the date in the title?