Throughout his career he was both controversial and influential, and critical views on his work ranged from sharply dismissive-treating him as a lesser figure than W. However, the two maintained their friendship, and from 1947 until Auden's death they lived in the same house or apartment in a non-sexual relationship, often collaborating on opera libretti such as that of The Rake's Progress, to music by Igor Stravinsky.Īuden was a prolific writer of prose essays and reviews on literary, political, psychological, and religious subjects, and he worked at various times on documentary films, poetic plays, and other forms of performance. In 1939, Auden fell in love with Chester Kallman and regarded their relationship as a marriage, but this ended in 1941 when Kallman refused to accept the faithful relations that Auden demanded. From 1956 to 1961 he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford his lectures were popular with students and faculty, and served as the basis for his 1962 prose collection The Dyer's Hand.Īuden and Isherwood maintained a lasting but intermittent sexual relationship from around 1927 to 1939, while both also had briefer but more intense relations with other men. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1947 long poem The Age of Anxiety, the title of which became a popular phrase describing the modern era. Auden moved to the United States partly to escape this reputation, and his work in the 1940s, including the long poems " For the Time Being" and " The Sea and the Mirror", focused on religious themes. Three plays written in collaboration with Christopher Isherwood between 19 built his reputation as a left-wing political writer. He came to wide public attention with his first book Poems at the age of twenty-three in 1930 it was followed in 1932 by The Orators. From 1947 to 1957 he wintered in New York and summered in Ischia from 1958 until the end of his life he wintered in New York (in Oxford in 1972–73) and summered in Kirchstetten, Lower Austria. He taught from 1941 to 1945 in American universities, followed by occasional visiting professorships in the 1950s. In 1939, he moved to the United States and became an American citizen in 1946, retaining his British citizenship. After a few months in Berlin in 1928–29, he spent five years (1930–35) teaching in British private preparatory schools, then travelled to Iceland and China to write books about his journeys. He attended various English independent (or public) schools and studied English at Christ Church, Oxford.
He was born in York and grew up in and near Birmingham in a professional middle-class family. 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".
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. Wystan Hugh Auden ( / ˈ w ɪ s t ən ˈ h juː ˈ ɔː d ən/ 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973 ) was a British-American poet. Constance Rosalie Bicknell Auden (mother).York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1974. Hallīarrows, Marjorie Wescott, ed., et al. New York: Random House, 1968.īahlke, George W., ed. It is the age of belief in the possibility of a future 3. Naive belief in self and place in life is boundless d. Age at which man realizes "his life-bet with a lying self" c. Child is "helpless in cradle and / Righteous still" but already has a "Dread in his dreams" 2. Malin asks the reader to "Behold the infant" b. Others support Malin's theories by drawing from past, present, and potential future experiences C. Controls the characters through his introduction of each age B. First act of Part II, "The Seven Ages" A. Emble passes his youthful judgment on the others' follies V. Rosetta endeavors to create an imaginary and happy past 4. Malin examines the theoretical nature of man 3. Quant views himself with false admiration 2. Characters think aloud to reveal their nature 1. "The Age of Anxiety" character analysis A. Their belief to be in Purgatory when they are allegorically in Hell 2. Characters' views on the general situation 1. Characters' inevitable failure in the quest B.
Characters' search for self-actualization 2. The themes and ideas in Auden's "The Age of Anxiety" reflect his belief that man's quest for self actualization is in vain.