Wystan
Hugh Auden, the son of a doctor, was
born in York in 1907. Auden was educated
at Gresham School and Christ Church, Oxford,
where he gained a third class honours degree in 1928.
While at university Auden
emerged as a promising poet. His early books include Poems
(1930), The Orators (1932), The
Dance of Death (1933) and Look
Stranger! (1936). In collaboration with Christopher
Isherwood he also wrote the plays The
Dog Beneath the Skin (1935) and The
Ascent of F6 (1936).
In January 1937 Auden went
to Spain to support the I fighting in the
Spanish Civil War. He visited Barcelona
and Valencia where he wrote articles on the war for the New
Statesman. When he returned to England he was active in the
campaign in favour of the Popular Front
government.
Auden's poem, Spain,
caused an impact on European left-wing intellectuals. In later years,
Auden rejected his Marxist past and described
Spain as "trash" that he was "ashamed to
have written."
Auden emigrated to the
United States with Christopher
Isherwood in 1939. During the Second World War
he published The Double Man (1941)
and For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio
(1944).
In 1947 Auden became an
American citizen. He completely rejected his left-wing past and his
post-war work reflected his growing interest in religion. This included
The Age of Anxiety (1947), Nones
(1951), The Shield of Achilles
(1955) The Old Man's Road (1956),
Homage to Clio (1960), About
this House (1967), City Walls
and Other Poems (1969), American
Graffiti (1971) and Epistle to
a Godson (1972). Wystan
Hugh Auden died
in 1973.
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