W. H. Auden - On This Island

Auden's intro states that T. S. Eliot was a major influence on him. "Auden said that when, at nineteen, he read The Waste Land, he discovered how he wanted to write and threw out his Wordsworthian verses." This is interesting because although I can see a bit of an influence from Eliot, I enjoyed Auden a lot more than Eliot. I think Auden's use of "prosey" diction and simpler ideas helped me to understand and like his works a lot more.

A Poem that we didn't really discuss in class but I think I liked the most is called On This Island. Not only does it paint a beautiful picture of the English coast, it is also fun to read! I really loved lines like "The leaping light for your delight discovers" and "That through the channels of the ear/ may wander like a river/ the swaying sound of the sea." Then we get the image of all the ships out in the water and we are told that with this full view of them sailing away, they move in our memory like the clouds "that pass the harbour mirror/ and all the summer through the water saunter." I just found this poem to be so beautiful. It really stuck out to me I think because of the sort-of romantic portrayal of the ocean. I loved it.