Discuss the life and works of W. H. Auden.

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LIFE AND WORKS

Wystan Hugh Auden was born on February 21, 1907 in York in England in a middle class family. He was the third son of his parents George Augustus and Constance Rosalie Auden. His mother was a nurse and father, a doctor. Later his father became medical superintendent. In 1908 this family shifted Birmingham. The poet inherited much from his parents and he was wise in Biology. He inherited science from his father and religious notions from his mother. We find a quiet diagnosis by a physician. In 1915 he was sent to St. Edmund’s Preparatory School. Between 1920 and 1925 he studied at Gresham’s School, Holt. Later in 1928, he entered into Christ Church College at Oxford and printed his Poems 1928. In the same year he made a visit to Berlin, worked as a teacher in Larch field Academy in Scotland. In The Downs school he published his Boerne 1930.

He began to write poems in the age of 15 and twice edited the journal Oxford Poetry when he want to oxford in 1925. Five years late he became a central figure as a student in the left wing intellectuals. His background was of a middle-intellectual who produced a sense of responsibility and strong didactic tendency. He worked as a teacher in England as well as in American, University. In 1938 he married the daughter of Thomas Mann who was anti Nazi. He wanted his wife, Erika Mann to obtain British citizenship. He emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1939 and became an American citizen in 1946. In 1956 he became a professor of Poetry at Oxford.

His The Orators appeared in 1932. The Dance of Death in 1933, Look Stranger! (1936), Letters from Iceland (1937). Journey to a War (1939) and Another Time (1940). He also wrote plays with Isherwood: The Dog Beneath the Skin (1935), The Ascent of F6 (1936) and On The Frontier (1938).

After his emigration to America, Auden published a wide range of poetry: New Year Letter (1941), For the Time Being (1945). The Age of Anxiety (1948), Nones (1952), The Shield of Achilles (1955) and Homage to Clio (1960). He also wrote criticism: The Enchofed Flood (1951) and The Dyer’s Hand (1963). His later works and editions include: About the House (1966). City Without Walls (1969), Epistle to a godson (1972). Thank you Fog: Last Poems (1974) etc. He translated different works of renowned authors and edited many works, He died on September 29, 1973 in Austria.