The Poetry of Wystan Hugh Auden

The most effective poems convey the poet’s idea and influence the Reader’s Response. This is certainly true when considering the poetry of John Foulcher is a contemporary Australian poet who writes about his observation of everyday life, people and places, as well as religious history. The poet’s voice is distinctive and he writes in a condensed style where each word and image is very important and has layers of meaning. He also often uses very harsh and violent imagery in his poems, which can be very shocking to the reader. Foulcher uses a range of techniques in his poems to communicate meaning, including similes, metaphors, personification and onomatopoeia. The poems that will be discussed in this essay are Martin and the Hand Grenade

William Butler Yeats Irish identity shaped his poetry by focusing on subjects that are related to Ireland and its people. Yeats is considered as not only the most important Irish poet, but also as one of the most important English language poets, of the 20th century. He was a very important person in the Irish Cultural Revival, his later poems made a significant influence to Modernism, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. William Butler Yeats poems are a reflection of his life, as they tell love and patriotism for Ireland.

Poems consist of a variation of different techniques in order to convey a message or idea to readers. Wilfred Owen, Thomas Hardy, Adrienne Rich, Bruce Dawe and Robert Browning are great poets who explore these issues, conveying their emotions, which influences a perception of an issue. In each of their poems they express the hidden message of hope, along with their main message. They use similar techniques to express their ideas, which illustrates their purpose to the reader.

Auden’s poem is a criticism of human perceptions and how we use them to detect, or suppress human suffering. In the first half of the poem Auden “compares versions of indifference by portraying youth and age, animals, and humans” (Shmoop, 2014). In the first few lines of the poem, Auden comments on the perceptions of the “Old Masters” and how they were never wrong in their discernment of suffering. He then compares the old masters perceptions to the perceptions of children and animals and how they are unaware of,

The poem "Clocks and Lovers" by W. H. Auden’s contrasts the idea of whether or not love will outlast time. Initially, the poem portrays a lover affirming the belief that love will triumph over time. The poem transitions and depicts the clocks' argument that due to time, love will eventually fade away. The narrator contrasts the two arguments with usage of imagery, personification, tone and diction. The argument that love will prevail over time is contrasted by the belief that as time goes by, time can never be stopped and love will not last. Overall, neither belief is represented as correct because the narrator contrasts the two opposing arguments by displaying that two arguments are incompatible. In regards to their following arguments, time is not as malicious or arduous to love but love is not impervious to time.

In his early thirties he started writing poetry for himself as he couldn’t do much else. His poetry has taken him all around the world talking to schools, universities, workplaces, construction sites and many more.

He thought poetry was an art of association, it inspires readers' imagination with symbolism rather than direct imitation of life, and hold the reader's feelings and arouse them to act with passion. His style throughout the 19th century formed the mainstream of American poetry”(1).

The speaker refers to the night as his acquaintance. This implies that the speaker has a lot of experience with the night, but has not become friends with it. Thus, because even the night, which has been alongside the speaker in comparison to anything or anyone else, is not a companion to the speaker, the idea of loneliness is enhanced. In addition, “rain” (2) is used to symbolize the speaker’s feelings of gloom and grief, because there is continuous pouring of the rain, which is unlikely to stop. In line 3, “city light” is used to convey the emotional distance between the speaker and society. Although the speaker has walked extensively, he has not yet interacted with anyone – thus distancing himself even further from society. Moreover, the moon, in lines 11 to 12, is used as a metaphor of the speaker’s feelings. The speaker feels extremely distant from society that he feels “unearthly.” The idea of isolation and loneliness in this poem is used as the theme of the poem; and the use of the setting and metaphors underscores the idea that the speaker feels abandoned from society.

Emily Dickinson is the creator of some of the most famous works in American poetry. Throughout the 1800s, the author dedicated her life to poetry. She used metaphors in an advanced way and displayed power through her unique use of diction. Emily’s immense power with words derived from her determination. Dickinson’s determination to achieve individuality and power is exemplified through her complex poetry and derived from the events that occurred in her life.

Also, one can better understand Dickinson’s poetry through an understanding of the author’s she read that might have influenced her own writing. Henry Thoreau, “whom she [Dickinson] had come to admire” (Habegger 500), probably influenced Dickinson’s use of nature as a source for uncovering the world around her. In addition, it was Charlotte Bronte who captured Dickinson’s struggles of being a woman intellect living in a world controlled by men.

Wyston Hughes Auden, or WH Auden, was a British poet, often considered by critics to be one of the best England has ever produced. Auden’s work is known, not only for its remarkable poetic calibre and craftsmanship but also for his skilful portrayal of myriad themes- ranging from the political, social, ethical, to the moral and even the individual.

The nineteenth century produced many esteemed authors, including Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman who became two of Americas most popular poets. While vastly different in style and personality, both Dickinson and Whitman relate to many people on an emotional level through their poetry, even in the twenty-first century. The works of poetry by Dickinson and Whitman can be compared on levels of style and form and both writers composed beautiful verses of high quality. Through the following comparisons, it will become apparent how Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman influenced American literature and culture both in similar and diverse ways.

W.H Auden famously wrote “poetry makes nothing happen.” Do you think this accurately describes the political and social place of poetry in the twentieth century and/or the twenty first century? Explain why you agree or disagree in the case of your chosen poet, justifying your answer with close reference to your poet’s work and its reception and interpretation.

Emily Dickinson is one of the most interesting female poets of the nineteenth century. Every author has unique characteristics about him/her that make one poet different from another, but what cause Emily Dickinson to be so unique are not only the words she writes, but how she writes them. Her style of writing is in a category of its own. To understand how and why she writes the way she does, her background has to be brought into perspective. Every poet has inspiration, negative or positive, that contributes not only to the content of the writing itself, but the actual form of writing the author uses to express his/her personal talents. Emily Dickinson is no different. Her childhood and adult experiences and culture form

Auden is a poet from the XXth century. As such, he has suffered the wars that have stricken the period. The ekphrasis, which is a literary description of a work of art, is used by Auden in his poems “The Shield of Achilles” and “Musée des Beaux Arts”. As part of his great concerns were the political and psychological conflicts that existed then. In the aforementioned poems, Auden uses the ekphrasis to denounce people’s indifference to human misery.