Analysis Of Auden s The Unknown Citizen, And Funeral...

It is difficult to make poetry with commentary on social and political issues. It is even more difficult to make poetry with commentary on social and political views that is both enjoyable and humorous. Poet W.H. Auden did this. As the 1930s seemed to be drawing closer towards war, Auden became a leading spokesman of his generation, a political writer who warned against dangers that are caused by totalitarianism. His socialism and distrust of nationalism during this period was strong, influenced mostly by his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, but his social views were always more complex labels that were given to him. Three works of Auden that can be analysed are â€Å"September 1, 1939†, â€Å"The Unknown Citizen†, and â€Å"Funeral Blues† all by†¦show more content†¦In 1956–61 he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In 1972, Auden moved his winter home from New York to Oxford, while he continued to summer in Austria. He died in Vienna in 1973 and was buried in Kirchstetten. The title of Auden’s poem â€Å"September 1, 1939† refers to the day that Hitler invaded Poland during World War 2. The first stanza of the poem reflects the overall mood of the entire poem. The speaker has general feelings of fear and uncertainty about the future. The speaker suggests that European culture and history has lead to this war. In the second stanza it says, Accurate scholarship can Unearth the whole offence From Luther until now That has driven a culture mad, The speaker is suggesting that through accurate scholarship, or intellectual analysis of the causes of the war, the whole war can be traced back to the culture and history of Europe. . The speaker of the poem also suggests that the war may not just be the aggressor’s fault. The poem reads later in the same stanza â€Å"Those to whom evil is done/ Do evil in return.† It is suggested the new war was caused by what the rest of Europe did to Germany after the first World War. The speaker also refers to the United States, who was at the time neutral. â€Å"In this neutral air/ Where blind skyscrapers use.† The speaker is talking about New York, which can be known because in the first stanza he says, â€Å"I sit in one of the dives/ On fifty-second street.† The speaker later claims that the United States is in a