In Memory of W. B. Yeats

“On This Island” by W. H. Auden (1937)

Sometimes titled “Seascape” or “Look, Stranger,” this poem is one of only a few by Auden that consist entirely of natural description. Portraying the island of Great Britain, the poem fulfills the task presented in “In Memory of W. B. Yeats,” that the poet must “[t]each the free man how to praise” (Line 65). In this case, the praise is for the beauty of the natural environment, where land meets sea: “Look, stranger, on this island now / The leaping light for your delight discovers.” 

“September 1, 1939” by W. H. Auden (1939)

The title refers to the day that Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, England and France declared war on Germany and World War II began. This was only several months after Auden had declared in his elegy for Yeats, “In the nightmare of the dark / All the dogs of Europe bark” (Lines 58-59). From his recently adopted home in New York, where he sits in a bar, Auden offers his reflections on how the Western world has gone so badly wrong. Feeling the need to “Show an affirming flame,” he states, “We must love one another or die.