English-born poet (1907-1973)
No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible.
W. H. AUDEN
Time Magazine, Dec. 29, 1961
Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can; all of them make me laugh.
W. H. AUDEN
attributed, Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
One can only blaspheme if one believes.
W. H. AUDEN
"Concerning the Unpredictable", Forewords and Afterwords
The condition of mankind is, and always has been, so miserable and depraved that, if anyone were to say to the poet: "For God's sake stop singing and do something useful like putting on the kettle or fetching bandages," what just reason could he give for refusing?
W. H. AUDEN
"Writing", The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
W. H. AUDEN
"September 1, 1939", Selected Poems
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone.
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
W. H. AUDEN
Funeral Blues
And we are introduced to Goodness every day,
Even in drawing-rooms among a crowd of faults;
He has a name like Billy and is almost perfect,
But wears a stammer like a decoration.
W. H. AUDEN
"Herman Melville"
To read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator: he interprets literally when he ought to paraphrase and paraphrases when he ought to interpret literally.
W. H. AUDEN
"Prologue: Reading", The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays
Poetry might be defined as the clear expression of mixed feelings.
W. H. AUDEN
New Year Letter
I am beginning to lose patience
With my personal relations.
They are not deep
And they are not cheap.
W. H. AUDEN
"Case Histories"
Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.
W. H. AUDEN
"Reading", The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays
We must love one another or die.
W. H. AUDEN
"September 1, 1939", Selected Poems
Almost all of our relationships begin and most of them continue as forms of mutual exploitation, a mental or physical barter, to be terminated when one or both parties run out of goods.
W. H. AUDEN
"Hic et Ille", The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie.
W. H. AUDEN
"September 1, 1939", Selected Poems
Base words are uttered only by the base
And can for such at once be understood;
But noble platitudes -- ah, there's a case
Where the most careful scrutiny is needed
To tell a voice that's genuinely good
From one that's base but merely has succeeded.
W. H. AUDEN
"Base words are uttered"
In life the loser's score is always zero.
W. H. AUDEN
"Postscript: The Frivolous and the Earnest", The Dyer's Hand
From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow.
W. H. AUDEN
"September 1, 1939", Selected Poems
Acts of injustice done
Between the setting and the rising sun
In history lie like bones, each one.
W. H. AUDEN
The Ascent of F-6
One cannot review a bad book without showing off.
W. H. AUDEN
"Reading", The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays
Put the car away; when life fails
What's the good of going to Wales?
W. H. AUDEN
"It's no use raising a shout", Poems