W. H. Auden

LitCharts guides for works by W. H. Auden

Explore LitCharts poetry guides for works by W. H. Auden. Each guide offers line-by-line analysis, exploration of poetic devices, and helpful resources for studying W. H. Auden's poetry.

As I Walked Out One Evening

"As I Walked Out One Evening" is W.H. Auden's song of disillusionment, mortality, and love. The poem's speaker wanders out for an evening stroll and overhears a kind of debate between a young lover... view guide

Epitaph on a Tyrant

"Epitaph on a Tyrant," one of W. H. Auden's best-known political poems, appears in the collection Another Time (1940). Written months before the outbreak of World War II, it assesses the career and... view guide

Funeral Blues (Stop all the clocks)

“Funeral Blues” was written by the British poet W. H. Auden and first published in 1938. It's a poem about the immensity of grief: the speaker has lost someone important, but the rest of the world ... view guide

In Memory of W. B. Yeats

"In Memory of W. B. Yeats" is W. H. Auden's complicated tribute to William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), considered the foremost Irish poet of his age and one of the finest writers in the English langu... view guide

Lullaby

"Lullaby" is one of the best-known poems from W. H. Auden's classic collection Another Time (1940). In mixed tones of romance and realism, its speaker addresses a lover who is asleep in their arms ... view guide

Musée des Beaux Arts

W. H. Auden wrote “Musée des Beaux Arts” in December 1938 following a visit to the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (a.k.a. Belgium's Royal Museums of Fine Arts). The poem's speaker walks t... view guide

Partition

The English poet W.H. Auden wrote "Partition" in 1966. Though it never mentions him by name, the poem describes Cyril Radcliffe: the British lawyer who was tasked with drawing the boundaries during... view guide

Refugee Blues

“Refugee Blues” was written by the British poet W. H. Auden. First published in 1939, on the eve of World War II, the poem meditates on the plight of Jewish refugees who were forced to flee Nazi Ge... view guide

September 1, 1939

W.H. Auden's "September 1, 1939" was first published in the October 18, 1939, edition of The New Republic, before being included in the poet's collection Another Time. Written upon the outbreak of ... view guide

The Capital

In W. H. Auden's "The Capital," an unnamed capital city glitters with false promise. This city lures rural people in with the promise of freedom and wealth, but the reality of city life is sinister... view guide

The Fall of Rome

"The Fall of Rome" is W.H. Auden's surreal vision of a society in the last throes of decadence. In this poem's dream-world—part postwar West, part ancient Rome—ominous storms rumble over "flu-infec... view guide

The More Loving One

"The More Loving One" is British poet W.H. Auden's wry, complex reflection on the indifference of the universe and the value of love. Gazing at the night sky, the poem's speaker understands that th... view guide

The Shield of Achilles

“The Shield of Achilles” is one of W. H. Auden best-known poems and appears in his 1955 collection of the same name. The poem reimagines a scene from the ancient Greek epic The Iliad in which the g... view guide

The Unknown Citizen

"The Unknown Citizen" was written by the British poet W. H. Auden, not long after he moved to America in 1939. The poem is a kind of satirical elegy written in praise of a man who has recently died... view guide