Imagery In Refugee Blues

W.H Auden presents helplessness of the Jewish people in ‘Refugee Blues’ which is set in 1930s Germany when the Jewish people were being persecuted by the Nazi. It is about the terrible plight of being a Jew in the wrong place at the wrong time. As a refugee, the couple have lost their home, their country and their identity and no one is willing to help them as they have ‘old passports’. The melancholy feeling comes through strongly in the blues- a sad song. Auden uses foreshadow, imagery and juxtaposition to convey the helplessness of the Jewish people in the poem.

Auden uses imagery to convey the helplessness of the Jewish people. In 23, Auden uses animal imagery to present helplessness in the poem. When the narrator was rejected by all the officials he saw a ‘door open’ and a ‘cat was let in’ emphasizing that there’s ‘no place’ for them. The common noun ‘door’ acts like a barrier showing how German Jews are separated from the rest of the Germans. Moreover, it can also suggest freedom and welcoming, which doesn’t apply to the Jews at all. The phrase ‘cat let in ‘shows that refugees have a lower value than animals as they are given more attention and affection than

The rhyme scheme is AAB where ‘a’ are descriptions and ‘b’ is emotion of the Jews. Moreover, the rhyme scheme matches with the poem ‘Blues’ a sorrowful song. The poem is written from the first person narrative of a Jewish refugee describing the trouble they are having trying to seek for help., the speaker is speaking to someone, by using the word ‘dear’ which could be someone who he loves and cares about, his wife and it also shows how helplessness he is to help his beloved family member. The first 2 lines in each stanza start with hope and the last line in every stanza ends in doom, repetition is used on the last line in every stanza this happens throughout the poem showing us that there is no progress