W. H. Auden in the Century of Moloch: The Poet's Biography and His Poetry of War

The twentieth century into which W. H. Auden was born in 1907 had been greeted with such optimism that Ellen Key named it "The Century of the Child"—a label that became increasingly bitterly ironic as war by war the century progressed. By mid-century the American literary historian Van Wyc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHungarian journal of English and American studies Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 117 - 131
Main Author Morse, Donald E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Debrecen Institute of English and American Studies, University of Debrecen 01.04.2008
De Gruyter Poland
Subjects
American literature
Auden, W H (1907-1973)
British & Irish literature
Christianity
Civil wars
Cold wars
English literature
Irish literature
Isherwood, Christopher (1904-1986)
Joyce, James (1882-1941)
Literary criticism
Love poetry
Oratorios
Poetic meter
Poetry
Sonnets
Special Section on W. H. Auden and His Poetry
War
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Summary:The twentieth century into which W. H. Auden was born in 1907 had been greeted with such optimism that Ellen Key named it "The Century of the Child"—a label that became increasingly bitterly ironic as war by war the century progressed. By mid-century the American literary historian Van Wyck Brooks moved to label it more appropriately: "There has never been an age that moved so swiftly from summer into winter—, or from what appeared to be summer—, as the age we have lived through . . . that turned into the century of Moloch, the eater of children" (159). For a poet such as Auden, involved in major political, theological, and social issues of his time, the wars of the twentieth century and their effects became almost inevitably a central, on-going subject and when not the direct subject, then became the omnipresent background for his poetry.
ISSN:1218-7364