Auden on Yeats

I basically knew nothing about W.H. Auden so I read his biographical information on page 783 of our book. One of the things that stood out in my mind was the idea that, “Auden took a stand against writers such as W.B. Yeats who…preened themselves too much on being poets and who touted poetry as revelation” (784). I went into reading “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” with the idea that it would be a kind of sarcastic or critical poem about Yeats. I left the poem with a different kind of feeling.

At first I did think that the poem was somewhat reflective of the negative attitude that Auden had towards Yeats. Specifically, “A few thousand will think of this day/As one thinks of a day when one did something slightly unusual” (28-29). As I moved on though, I thought Auden’s general attitude towards poetry colored lines 28-29, not necessarily his feelings towards Yeats, “For poetry makes nothing happen” (36).

I left this poem with the feeling that though Auden may not have always agreed with Yeats, he greatly respected the man. “Earth, receive an honoured guest; William Yeats is laid to rest” (42-43). Also, he keeps repeating the line, “The day of his death was a dark cold day.” With Europe being on the verge of WWII, maybe Auden was feeling dissatisfied with the overall effects that poetry was making on the world.