Auden on the War: A Dissent

It's the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland today, an event that I do not actually remember although strictly speaking, I guess I could: I do remember the hurricane of '38.

It's also the occasion for bloggers to recall the celebrated poem by W. H. Auden on the a "low dishonest decade." The general tenor seems to be that Auden's poem is a suitable monument to the event itself -- "great," "haunted me for years," "great," "arguably one of his best works."

Well, you can't argue with this kind of success (or not very effectively). And apparently it is hard for us to imagine the day remembering his poen. But this is as good a time as any to register a note of reserve about--well, not about Auden the man, who seems to have been quite a wonderful (if sometimes impossible, but aren't we all?) person. Rather, about Auden the poet: I suspect that in the end we (or our children) will come to see that he simply isn't as wonderful as he thought he was--will come to wonder what we saw in him in the first place. I suspect he may end up as the 20th Century Longfellow--so much the voice of his time that another time will have trouble figuring him out.

This is not quite as much of a put-down as it may seem---hey, it can be fun to read Longfellow. But it is meant to be a caution about reading Auden uncritically as part of the history he lived through.

Indeed rather than his poetry, I suspect what may prove really durable is his criticism. He was a person of broad culture, and a great appreciator. I've written earlier about his lectures on Shakespeare. I still hang on to my copy of the Viking Portable Greek Reader, with its Auden introduction. Oh, and here is the Viking Portable Restoration and Augustan Poets, with an introduction co-authored by Auden.

Aside from these more obviously literary pieces there is a whole range of stuff that suggests the breadth and catholicity of Auden's interests. NYRB Classsics did us a service by reprinting his Living Thoughts of Kierkegaard. Here's a Viking Book of Aphorisms, co-edited by Auden, one of the most intelligent such collections I've ever seen. Oh, and the Penguin edition of Goethe's Italian Journey, with an Auden intro, one of the best possible introductions to Italy even today. Oh, and here's I never saw before: translations from the Norse. And it is not, stricly speaking, just literature: here is an Elizabethan Songbook, edited by Auden and his companion, Chester Kalman (and is that an uncredited Gorey drawing on the cover?): I used to have that stuff on a big ol' 33rpm LP record with Auden himself, I think, doing the voice-over. Finally, I am ever in his debt for introducing me to the cabaret songs of Jill Gomez, one of the most beguiling voices of her generation.

I suppose there is a lot more; I can't claim to be a careful student, and I have collected merely what washed up on my shore. It certainly seems to add up to quite a lot, and worth appreciating even if the verse itself might be the least of it.

Update: For a subtle critical essay on Auden the poet, go here.

Update II: Apparently I wrote this piece before. No matter; if I keep trying, I may at last get it right.