Product Description

For many years there existed a general feeling that the selection made by Auden himself in 1968 was far from satisfactory. It was too short to provide a full introduction to such a large body of work; perhaps it was too weighted in favour of the later poetry; at the time it was made some famous poems, or portions of poems were still under an embargo imposed by Auden himself which remained in force until his death. This edition contains an introduction which is an examination of the nature of Auden's genius and of his position and stature in 20th-century literature.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31211 in Books
• Published on: 1978
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 332 pages

Customer Reviews

Appreciation and understanding
When this selection was first published in 1979, just 6 years after Auden's death, people still divided his career into the "English Auden" (up to 1939) and the "American Auden" (post 1939). Controversy still raged over Auden's own selection of his poems which eliminated and disowned many of the essential early works - something this selection sought to redress. Those controversies are long dead, I think, but they served a purpose in giving us this excellent selection with an illuminating introduction from Edward Mendelson, whose first sentence- "Auden was the first poet writing in English who felt at home in the twentieth century", already provides a great insight. Exactly 100 poems have been chosen which fills over 300 pages, very generous for a "selected" poems. The poems Auden rejected such as "Spain" and "September 1, 1939" are restored and are absolutely central to understanding his oeuvre. Longer sequences such as "In Time of War", "The Quest" and "The Sea and the Mirror" are presented in their entirety along with the familiar major lyrics such as "Lay your sleeping head, my love", "As I walked out one evening", "Musee des beaux arts" and perhaps his greatest single poem "In praise of Limestone" right up to his final published poem in 1973. You can tell this selection was made before "Four weddings and a funeral" as there is no "Funeral Blues" or "Tell me the truth about love"! Which in itself might indicate the richness in Auden's work. So, this collection is maybe not for the casual reader who only wants the 5 or 6 really famous poems, but for the person who wants to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the full range of Auden's work. He is not always easy to understand, but sometimes great poetry isn't easy - nevertheless, it can still be enjoyed. As a teacher of mine once put it "Appreciation precedes understanding" and I have found this to be true often and especially so with Auden.

This is an inspiring read
I came to this book after a friend sent me a poem of his in an email.
This is simply an excelent collection of poetry, sometimes crystal clear and at other times it yields nothing so easy to distinguish as 'meaning'.
Auden can evoke a day's thought from a single sentence and give a new perspective to an old event (take the lunar landing for example).
His scope and range are truly impressive covering ancient times (Orpheus) right up to the (relative) modern day (he died in the late 70's I think).
This book is highly recommended.

Auden = Legend
Auden is an amazing poet. He deals with issues that are relevant today, and though his poems are for the most part abstract, the deeper meanings and themes throughout the body of his work are interesting, thought-provoking and, most importantly, expertly written. Auden's language is brilliant.

Gotta b my favourite poet. I'm only 18, doin my A levels, but cmon, Auden for the win.