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1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2006

Stan Smith
Affiliation:
Nottingham Trent University
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Summary

'Of the many definitions of poetry, the simplest is still the best: “memorable speech”', W. H. Auden wrote in the Introduction to his 1935 anthology, The Poet's Tongue (Poet's Tongue, p. v). Auden is one of the few modern poets whose words inhabit the popular memory. Long before the recitation of 'Funeral Blues' in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, many of his phrases had passed into common use. His characterisation in 'September 1, 1939' of the 1930s as a 'low dishonest decade' has become definitive and ubiquitous, invoked even in quarters not normally associated with high literacy. Dan Quayle, for example, announcing his 1999 Presidential candidacy, applied it to the Clinton years. This poem alone has supplied titles for countless books, including studies of the economic origins of World War II (A Low Dishonest Decade), Soviet espionage (The Haunted Wood), the history of saloons (Faces Along the Bar) and a play about AIDS (The Normal Heart). Such diverse co-options indicate the range of reference Auden can pack into a single poem.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Stan Smith, Nottingham Trent University
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to W. H. Auden
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521829623.001
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Stan Smith, Nottingham Trent University
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to W. H. Auden
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521829623.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Stan Smith, Nottingham Trent University
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to W. H. Auden
  • Online publication: 28 May 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521829623.001
Available formats
×