What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to examine W. H. Auden's views on the role of poetry and its traditions during the 1930s in Britain.

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April 3, 2026Open Access

Grave subject in light verse : W. H. Auden's "James Honeyman" and the ballad tradition in 1930s Britain

Key Points

The aim is to examine W. H. Auden's views on the role of poetry and its traditions during the 1930s in Britain.
Analyzed Auden's anthologies, particularly 'The Poet's Tongue' from 1934.
Explored historical context of English poetry in the 1930s.
Assessed Auden's criticism of didactic poetry and its implications.
Auden challenges the expectation of poetry to deliver direct messages.
He emphasizes that poetry should illuminate rather than dictate to readers.
The exploration highlights the convergence of literary and political shifts during the 1930s.

Abstract

W. H. Auden (1907-73), one of the most renowned poets of the 1930s, was also a versatile anthologist.Auden expresses his views regarding the history and contemporary circumstances of English poetry through his anthologies.In the first, The Poet's Tongue (1934), Auden makes a reply to negative assumptions about poets and poetry.Opposing the idea that the poet is to enlighten readers didactically, he asserts that "one must show those who come to poetry for message, for calendar thoughts, that they have come to the wrong door, that poetry may illuminate but it will not dictate" ("Introduction to The Poet's Tongue" 108).Those claims harmonize with then-contemporary arguments about the poets role, and expected commitments, in the political turmoil of the 1930s.Literary modes, as well as political circumstances, had shifted drastically since

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