Hello everyone,
Today i try to analyse Auden's poem as pandemic poem and compare with the current issue Russian and Ukraine War, because Auden also talked about war in his poems , and how can we relate it with today's problems and another issue of today is pandemic so let's start,
First of all i would like to give some information about W.H Auden :-
Full name of W.H. Auden is Wystan Hugh Auden. He was a British poet, author and playwright best known as a leading literary figure in the 20th century for his poetry. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content. Some of his best known poems are about love, such as "Funeral Blues" on political and social themes, such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles" on cultural and psychological themes, such as The Age of Anxiety and on religious themes such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae". To know more about Auden.
1) Auden's poem seems to be written in our times for 2022, justify is in context of pandemic and Russia - Ukraine war.
In memory of W.H. Yeats poem.
The poem is on death of W.H. Yeats and this kind of poem known as Elegy. The poem is in three part. Major thematic concerned of poem is role of poet and it's an Elegy so it's reflection- thinking on the role of and place of poetry in modern times. And poet ask three questions about poet and poetry ,
1) What is poetry for?
2) Can poetry make anything happen?
3) Should it make anything happen?
The first part of the poem W.H. Auden introduces pathetic fallacy using extended metaphor begins with,
“He disappeared in the dead of winter” and says that the brooks were frozen, the airports were deserted and the wolves ran through the evergreen forests”.
The mercury sank in the mouth of the dying day.
In this very first stanza there is words like 'dead of winter' and 'airports were deserted' 'mercury' during pandemic time there is gun for check the level of temparature and we know that in during winter time corona spread too much and so many people died and there is rumors that corona will go in summer so winter became reason of death. And airport were deserted as we know that people don't allowed to travel and flights were stopped for many months so we can use it in pandemic period.
But for him it was his last afternoon as himself,
An afternoon of nurses and rumours;
During pandemic time rumours spreading too much of somebody die or live and hospital also became confused about dead body of somebody so we can use rumours in this sense.
But for him it was his last afternoon as himself,
An afternoon of nurses and rumours;
The provinces of his body revolted,
The squares of his mind were empty,
Silence invaded the suburbs,
The current of his feeling failed; he became his admirers.
We can relate last stnaza like, All the countries of Ukraine were restless because Putin’s Russian attacked Kyiv and Chine supported Russian against Ukraine and it was the beginning of Third World War. The square of his mind were empty' square as chess'a square and empty we can relate it with our today's condition that in Ukraine there is war is running so soldiers are died and land became empty due to attacks and death of soldiers.
Second part :
In the second part there is word like 'Isolation' we directly relate with pandemic as we know that corona patient have to stay isolated for safety of other people.
Third part :-
In the final part poet speaks about 2nd World war and conditions of all the countries and specially Europe which we directly connect with our today's problem of Russia & Ukraine's war. Ukraine is in spiritual darkness because all the countries bark against each other like mad dogs and the intellectual community in all these nations are anxiously and helplessly waiting because people are blinded with hatred of their neighbor, leading to war. Therefore, W. H. Auden asks us to follow the poet because poetry always leads through the right path of life. In the Bible God cursed Adam and Eve to earn their daily bread and butter by hard work, but the poets like WB Yeats converts the curse into a beautiful vineyard for human beings by singing of the failures and frailties of human life and fill human hearts with the spirit of love and peace. Although human life is a prison of difficulties and problems, poets teach us to praise each other and wipe out hatred and ill will.
2) Epitaph on a Tyrant written by W.H.Auden and published in 1939 the year that the Second World War broke out. The specific tyrant Auden had in mind, he was probably Adolf Hitler, though the poem can be analysed as a study in tyranny more generally, too. This powerful poem that remains all too relevant today. Epitaph on a Tyrant’ is one of Auden’s short masterpieces. In just six lines,manages to say so much about the nature of tyranny.
-Epitaph - kind of quote - written on someone dead's tomb
- Tyrant - Brutal Dictator
We start with the word ‘Perfection’, which is immediately undermined by the qualifying clause ‘of a kind’. Something is either perfect or it is not; there is no such thing as perfection ‘of a kind’. This shows the unrealistic nature of the tyrant’s dream, which often stems from a desire to create some kind of utopia. The poetry the tyrant wrote, we are told, was easy to understand. In today's context we can say that we saw many such people around us who wants to make the nation perfect which seems impossible. But they always fond of prove themselves as best rulers or President and for that they do such activities , photographs with children, start crying during speech and clicked photos with soldiers.
When they want to make nation perfect it's their views and according to his belief whatever they think as perfect they want to change and it is always dangerous for other people mostly for common people.
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
This suggests someone who believes art should be democratic and enjoyed by everybody, and such anti-elitism appears to be a positive trait at first. But the late Geoffrey Hill observed, in defence of difficult art, ‘that genuinely difficult art is truly democratic. In this we can say that people and specially Soldiers of Ukraine and Russia are ready to fight for their governments without any objection because they think that whatever their governments told that is true. So for people language of this people is too easy to understand. They want to invented poetry while poetry is an art and it's never be easy to understand but for then poetry and other art also became invention so it's became easy for their followers to understand. Poetry is kind of mirror in which you can't see one image there is many images and there is difficulty to understand it.
Whole poem is about the quality of Tyrant and we found it in our politicians today also.And besides, what does it mean to talk of somebody having ‘invented’ poetry? Poetry is made, composed, written, created - but invented suggests that the tyrant wishes to take credit for having come up with the idea of poetry itself, or at least a whole new kind of poetry.
We relate it our today's situation because Auden's also talked about 2nd world war and we also stand near to 3rd world war so we also find out the such kind of behaviour and mentality in politicians and rulers.
This poem deals with dictatorship, propaganda and political issues and also about rise of peasisim and outbreak of world. But i would like to read this poem as pandemic and today's Ukraine & Russia war.
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
In the very first stanza of the poem speaker pondering about what is happening in Europe war. Dictator like Hitler is responsible for it not only one but many other dictator. But we can say that whenever such events or situation happened it not suddenly happened there is some kind of sign and many other things are there in background of this.
In case of corona we can say that corona is not responsible for death of so many people but people are died due to they don't have proper medical care and not get oxygen on time so if we have Money and fund so government should use it for build hospital.
Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
In this second stanza we can say that person like dictator they always think themselves as psychopathic God and powerful Person and thought that whatever they do it is right and good for everybody, we cam relate it today's Russia & Ukraine's war. Russian president Vladimir Putin that whatever he do is for sake of Ukraine's people and give reason for war. So dictator always think that whatever they do that's good for everybody.
We can say that if in past somebody do something wrong then people should forgive them otherwise they attack back and people have to pay for it. Today we see that how people of Ukraine feel trouble and situation going out of control.
Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
In this stanza we can say that people have to become like Thucydides who know everything about dictator, what they speak and why they speak such thing and as we know that dictator always concerned about their benefits and talked rubbish thing.
Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism's face
And the international wrong.
In fourth stanza we can see how speaker talked about the people who stay neutral in the trouble. As we know that during second world war America remain neutral and in war Ukraine and Russia many countries including India remain neutral that means they are in favour of wrong things, And favour of war.
In the time of Corona pandemic we can say that if there is one country where corona is still present then there is chances of spreading corona in all over the World so people should be follow all guidelines of government.
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.
In This stanza we can say that The night which has come on them is the night of the present War of Russia & Ukraine. That they have never been happy with their lot is evident from their imperialistic policies. And they are not good as evident from the fact that they exploit the poor and the weak at home and abroad.
The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
In this stanza we can say that Speaker want to say about human psyche who always think about themselves and self centred. For example in state level we proud as Gujarati, in country level we concerned about Indian but we never think ourselves as human. We became happy when Pakistan face any trouble so we can say that we don't have such humanity and we never concerned about everybody. And people like psychopathic God who became happy when other country facing problems and create boundaries for people.
In pandemic time also we saw that people like Donald Trump who openly denied to wear mask and set wrong example for his followers to don't wear mask.
"I will be true to the wife,
I'll concentrate more on my work,"
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the deaf,
Who can speak for the dumb?
In this stanza we say that it's about the common people are held up to comparison with their political rulers in this stanza. In context of pandemic we can relate it who travelled for their work they suffered a lot during lockdown due to
Many reasons. But politicians didn't understand it because they haven't face such situations. As we know that during corona time police have to do their work too seriously and there was same rule for everybody but we know there is one case in Surat in which son of politicians wondering on road and when lady constable stop him , he use power of his father and escaped from crime. Sunita yadav
In context of war we can say that who fight for government and politicians who help them when they are in trouble? Who speaks for them? Noone because everybody is concerned about their own self no one is matter for them. We see helplessness of man, uneventful life and the governors playing their game of fooling them goes on incessantly. Who can 'reach the deaf' and 'speak for the dumb?
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
At the end of the poem speaker say very interesting thing which is that we all have voice but we can't have right to do what we want to do as we know that if somebody write something against of authority and religion then people create trouble for those people and then fight is started of men to other men. Nobody have choice for doing what they want to do.
In case of Russia & Ukraine's war we say that people are hungry to kill other people and noone is able to stop them and people are dieing. So we can say that,
Soldiers are intoxicated for fight
and
Normal people are in toxication of neutrality.
In this poem there is possibility to read this poem as queer study and our professor also give us a task of find out the theme of lack of acceptance of homosexuality in society so i made another blog on this task Click here for more information.
Thank you :)
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