Auden's poem

Hello! I am divya parmar. i am writing blog upon three poems by Wystan Hugh Auden . In this blog i cover two questions but first i give the brief information about the poet. Then i cover the question which given us as a thinking activity by dilip barad sir. 

➡️ Wystan Hugh Auden : 

Wystan Hugh Auden ( February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content. Some of his best known poems are about love, such as "Funeral Blues"; on political and social themes, such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles"; on cultural and psychological themes, such as The Age of Anxiety; and on religious themes such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae". 

Question: Auden's poems seems to be written in our times for 2022. Justify this in context of pendamic and Russia - Ukraine war. 

Answer: we read three poem of Auden as part of our syllabus but when we read this poem we strongly feel that this poems are written for today's time. We can find all routes of pendamic and it's effects in these poems. So let's look upon the first poem. The title of the poem is "September 1, 1939" Read original poem:

➡️ September 1, 1939 poem by Auden: 

When we read original poem at first sight we find we find it is related with our current situation. So let's connect the dots for reading poem as pendamic of Russia and Ukraine war. Before that what is the issue between Russia and Ukraine. 

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Issue between Russia and Ukraine: I found one video which help us to understand the issue between Russia and Ukraine. 

👉 Connect dots between poem and current situation : 

1. Treaty of versailles/Minsk agreement:

 In poem we can find the second world war which is somewhere similar as today's situation of Russia and Ukraine. In the first stanza of poem we can find the line "As the clever hope expire" which is related with Germany. This point is related with treaty of  versailles. Let's read about Treaty of Versailles. click here to read about treaty of Versailles  Now the the similar kind of thing happened with Russia and Ukraine. Minsk agreement. By the reading this both agreement we can find that there similarity between this two agreement. According to treaty Germany have to pay money which denayed and become reason for worldwar second. Similar kind that according to Minsk agreement Russia can not do this type of atteck on Ukraine but as same as Germany it become resulted in war. 

2. The role of propoganda in both war: 

In any situation we know the midium of communication or we can say that the midium of news plays a vital role in such things. In poem we can see that how the news of world wae second spreading thrue Redio and Newspaper. In current situation we can see hoe the internet, social midia and midia plays a vital role. In video we can find that how the midiais currupted by political parties and man who is in power. this all things somewhere connect at somepoint. 

3. Noumber of deaths: 

In world war second we can see the number of death:

In russia ukraine war thousands people are already died and and war still going on. So we do not know how many people going to died. And the main point can we noticed that where ever the war beginning the humanity always br forgotten by higher authorities. The ultimate slogan of "The whole world is our family." Is always to be losses in blood shed of war. The humanity can be seen as dead in war lands. 

➡️ In memory of W. B. Yeast:

 

This poem is written after the death of W. B. YEATS. So this poem is elegy and tribute to yeats. Yeats died in 1939. The poem is anti hyperbolic. The poem is elegy but it is not followed the traditional stayle of writing elegy. Thast's why it is called as modern elegy. click here to read original poem Now  look upon the poem as pendamic poem. This poem writren after the death of W. B. YEATS. So we can not connect all the point but hear we can connect some point. 

In the poem we can find first point is when he was died the brooks were frozen and airpots almost deserted... so when we have corona lockdown the all transportation and all system seems like frozen. And we can take this sentences as satire upon political parties! when any political leader died, parties blocks roads and also make troubled to people. The word "Memory sank" remember our temprature gun or tharmometer but when we talk about specially corona time we use gun to scale temparature of people. The poet was died but no one was affected by that cause as a poet they wrote so many things as satire or related to truth. But if we see it in real sense the death of poet can never put effects upon the fame of poetry and fame of poet. So generally we can say that poets or writers never died but they aleays be remember by their works! When we were facing corona pendamics we find so many deaths around us and also we find so many news of deaths which creates fear among us. 

➡️ Epithaph on tyrant: 

click to read original poem by the read the original poem i find this following points.

 

"poetry can created never invented" by this lines connecting dots with political world! We can find this is with current world poet or writer forced to write poem or work upon political leader. Another thing which we can notice that if the poet or writers are not forced but they have greed to be very well known. If they wrote their work upon political leader or the person in power. poet or writers openly wrote their work to get succes. If we google poetry upon political leader we can find so many. Poetry is quite need reading between the lines. We can not Directly read and get meaning out of that poem. We can say that by this line we can imagine that behind easy language there is a big trape for public. The words of the poem like Armies and Fleets , Human folly like back of his hand all this things connected dots with polics during this pendamic times. The lines "When he laughed , Respectable senators burst with laughter, And when hr cried the little children died in the streets." this line draw us to that point, if the political leader have news of victory, behind there are so many peopel who have paid very high cost for it. As same if political leader shows concern and crying foy people at that time so many innocence people were died behind his concern. 

Question : 2 In order to create duality in interpretation of the poem ( September 1, 1939) Auden uses codified language to conceal the underlying theme of the lack of acceptence of homosexuality in society. Do you agree with his observation ? 

Answer: It said that literature or the piece of  writing is always shows the real image of society. So in the poem SEPTEMBER 1, 1939 also it connected the life of  poet some where.