W. H. Davies

1. Introduction 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. This essay examines the effects that poetry has on society, both socially and politically. Poetry has been around for centuries

The astonishing level of agony presented in a person when losing a loved one is described in the poem, “Stop All of the Clocks, Cut off the Telephone” by W.H. Auden. In this poem, the poet describes the pain of ending an intense sensation of love when one of the partners passes away. The inability to cope once one’s love has ended provokes the feeling that life has ended due to the thought of not being able to live alone. This is found in the poem when Auden states, “For nothing now can ever come

The years between 1930 towards the mid 1940s proved to be a tumultuous yet pivotal time in American history for a number of reasons. The rise of Ford as the largest vehicle manufacturer became apparent, (“Ford”, par. 7) along with the rising popularity of radios, phonographs and frigidaires. And the event that perhaps was the most substantial of them all: World War 2. As these events transpired, the face of America as a nation shifted in all arenas politically, economically and socially, garnering

“The Bustle in a House” by Emily Dickinson (653) is a poem that uses the death of a loved one and turns it into how the domestic duties must go on and utilizes that as a source to cope with the grief caused by the depressing situation. Similarly, “Funeral Blues” by W.H. Auden (762-763) is also a poem about death in which is told in a man’s perspective who is mourning the loss of a lover who has died. Although “The Bustle in a House” and “Funeral Blues” share death as the comparable theme, both poets

Message Exchange Three Messages Citizen, Old, and Anyone Many may say that within every piece of literature, object, and spoken word there is a deeper meaning, or perhaps a hidden message. These hidden meanings are often hard to find and require more thought. In the three poems “The Unknown Citizen”,“Old Age Sticks” , and “Anyone lived in a Pretty How Town” there is a hidden meaning behind each word. Some could say that they all tie together

Death Reflected in Auden’s Funeral Blues, Forche’s Memory of Elena, and Dickinson’s Last Night that She lived Death is a natural and inevitable part of life. Everyone will experience death, whether it is of a loved one or oneself. In W.H. Auden’s poem “Funeral Blues” (1003), he describes such a catastrophic event and the drastic effect that it has on his life. It is interesting how people choose to accept this permanent and expected event, death. Similarly, Emily Dickinson has written

Suffering is embedded in our daily lives. There are devastating things going on in our daily environments and yet, people seldom realize this as they occupy themselves with other tasks. W.H. Auden’s, Musée des Beaux Arts, is a statement on human perceptions and how we use them to observe, or block out human suffering. While we are doing ordinary things like eating, or opening a window, bad things can be happening to others and it is as easy as looking up, to see what is actually going on. Auden illustrates

How effectively does the poet convey aspects of change in ‘Funeral Blues’? ‘Funeral Blues’ by W. H. Auden is a poem is about death and grief. It was originally written as a satirical poem about the death of a politician, though was later edited to become solemn. The poet effectively conveys aspects of change, such as the human condition in relation to the experience of loss. This is conveyed through tone, metaphors, imagery and anaphora. The aspect of the human condition and our response to

“The Unknown Citizen”      “The Unknown Citizen” by W.H. Auden, is a commentary on government and the materialism of modern man. The poem is written in the form of an obituary inscribed on a monument built by the government in commemoration of an average, upstanding, and decent community member. Throughout the passage, the speaker lists facts about the citizen’s life which he believes prove that the deceased was a valuable person. In actuality these facts represent nothing more than the socially

W.H. Auden wrote the poem, “Funeral Blues”. Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973) was born in York, England, and later became and American citizen. Auden was the founder for a generation of English poets, such as C. Day Lewis, and Stephen Spender. Auden’s earlier works were composed of a Marxist outlook with a knowledge of Freudian Psychology. Later works consisted of professing Christianity, and what he considered “increasing conservatism”. In 1946 Auden emigrated and became an American citizen. While in