Language And Symbolism In Auden's Poetry

With Auden the language and impedimenta of his own time were absorbed into his poetry at a deeper level, as it were, than was the case with any other poet of the thirties. The modern symbols and analogies do not shine out of his poems like great, glowing jewels; on the contrary, they seem an integral part of his poems. There appears to be no discrepancy and no barrier between his poems and the world in which he lives. Thus he can write a sonnet, like the one from which the opening lines are quoted: A shilling life will give you all the facts: How father beat him, how he ran away, What were the struggles with his youth, what acts Made him the greatest figure of his day: Of how he fought , fished, hunted, worked all night, Though giddy, climbed new mountains; named a sea: Some of the last researchers even write Love made him weep his pints like you and me. (Auden 44 )

The poet enters into a tacit agreement with the public with the declaration that he will avoid an esoteric language, use words in the sense with which the public is familiar and employ traditional patterns of verse, easily intelligible to the public. He favors a rational progression of thought and a logical structure. He seems to agree with Ivor Winter’s tenet that a poem is an organization of language with precise meaning of words embodying a value and a judgment passed by the poet himself on it. Thus it can be easily perceived that the Movement has staged a rebellion against the modern poetry of 1920s, represented by Eliot and Pound. Philip Larkin, the illustrious poet of the Movement declares that he has been most influenced by the poetry which he has enjoyed- that of Hardy, Owen, Christina Rossetti and Auden. He rejects the ‘myth kitty’ business of