Both thematically and
structurally, Auden’s poems show the very essence of modernism. The
characteristics that are needed to consider him as a modern poet are all in
profusely blended in his poems. In the following passages, I have tried to
demonstrate the elements of modernism both thematically and structurally to
prove him as a modern poet.
Formal/Stylistic
characteristics:
Symbolism
and Imagery:
In terms of
Formal/Stylistic characteristics, Auden is also a modern poet. He uses in his
poetry a wide range of Imagery, symbolism and other figures of speech. He
adopted the style of symbolism in order to represent his experience in the
modern world.
In Petition, he
represents the old, decaying and rotten Western civilization as the house of
the deads. Praying to God, he writes:
“Harrow
the house of the dead; look shining at
New
style of architecture, a change of heart.”
Auden’s landscape
imagery is, also modern. In the poem entitled In Memory of W.B.Yeats, he
represents the atmosphere of the then Europe as follows:
“In
the nightmare of the dark
All
the dogs of Europe bark,
And
the living nations wait,
Each
sequence in his hate.”
Metre
and Versification:
The most peculiar
quality of the modern poetry is the poet’s tendency is to experiment with
different kinds of metre and versification. Auden is also modern in this
respect. He has experimented with free verse, blank verse, the ballad metre
etc. In this connection Lawrence Durrell Observes:
“He
tried his hand at everything, from jazz lyrics in two-four time, to free verse;
and all his production are stamped with authority and feeling of mastery over
his medium.”
(Durrell, 1952)
Thematic
Characteristics:
War
and violence:
Auden’s social
concerns are mostly expressed in the context of war. Auden is an avid observer
of war. He surveys different social, political, and economic upheavals caused
by World Wars. He argues that most of the ills of the contemporary society
results from war., Modern age is marked by violence and war. Auden says that
war and violence had always been in the primitive age but they were not as
brutal as the modern savages. In “The Shield of Achilles”, he says,
“Iron-hearted
man-slaying Achilles
Who
would not live long.”
In “In Memory of W. B Yeats”, he
refers that all Europe is in the grip of the terror of war and the bloodthirsty
leaders of Europe are threatening each other. Nations live in isolation in
constant dread of each other,
“In
the nightmare of the dark
All
the dogs of Europe bark,
And
the living nations wait,
Each
sequence in his hate.”
Auden is here
indicating that all the European nations are crying for war, like the dogs
barking loudly. There is no fellow-feeling among the European nations. Rather
they are separated from each other by their hatred.
Mendelson writes in
an essay entitled “Auden’s Revision of Modernism” that the poet “welcomed
into his poetry all the disordered conditions of his time”
Barrenness:
Auden shows the barrenness of modern
age as well as the modern human soul. Auden refers that Modern age is
totally barren without any feature
"A plain without a feature,
bare and brown,
“No
blade of grass, no sign of neighborhood”
Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit
down."
Auden’s description
of modern souls also likens the waste land of Eliot. Human souls are infertile
and incapable of love. Forster in “A Passage to India”, says,
“Everything
exists, nothing has value.”
Auden portrays that modern soul are
hollow. Their mind are unable to communicate their emotions and their heart are
like "the desert” where the
“the seas of pity lie
Locked and frozen in each eye’’
Human
Suffering and Lack of Morality: Auden portray in his poems modern
people’s lack of morality. In Musée des Beaux Arts Auden presents the
philosophical truth about human suffering.. Moreover, people generally remain
indifferent to the pain and suffering of an individual. While a man suffers, others
are engaged in their usual labour In Musee Des Beaux Arts; the poet upholds the
lack of morality through the mythical incident of Icarus Here he shows that in
the human suffering. “Human is indifferent”. The painting painted by
Brueghels shows that while some people of the worlds suffer, others are busy
doing their work. The pains are generally so much absorbed in their lives that
they remain unconcerned rather people eat, drink and enjoy and the children
enjoy and play without any concern. This human condition leads our poet to the
worlds of suffering. Auden says,
“While
someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along.”
…
There
always must be
Children
who did not specially want it to happen”
Icarus had the
intention to fly to the sun. In order to put his ambition into practice, he
tries to reach the sun with the help of artificial wings made of feather and
wax. But after flying a little distance, his wings melted and he fell down
head-long into the sea,
”the ploughman may
Have
heard the splash, the forsaken cry,’’
And the expensive
delicate ship must have seen,
“Something
amazing, a boy fallen out of the sky
Had
somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.”
But no one comes to
rescue and pays no attention rather all become busy with their own tasks.
Actually this is the highlighted mentality of the modern man which is
diagnosised in Auden’s poetry
“how everything turns away
Quite
leisurely from the disaster;”
Auden portrays that modern people
have lost their love or sympathy towards other. Even when a man dies, they do
not care about it but continues their daily life style.
Richard Hoggart says,
“Auden combines an intense interest in the human heart with a desire to
reform society and he thinks over psychological ills greater than our
political”
The above mentioned
passages indicate that Auden in a true modern poet expressing the very ideals
of modernity through his poems. Both thematically and structurally, his poems
are landmark in modernism.
References:
01. Richard Hoggart, (1951), Auden: An Introductory
Essay. Retrieved from books.google.com
02. Mendelson, Retrieved from www.pabooks.libraries.psu.edu
03. Lawrence Durrell (1952), A Key to Modern British Poetry,
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
