Selected Poems

I've had a paperback copy of Auden's Selected Poems since I was 17 years old, when I went through my first serious poetry phase in high school. It was a pleasure to re-read this past week and revisit old loves ("The Sea and the Mirror" will never get old for me) as well as make new discoveries ("Thanksgiving for a Habitat," "Bucolics," "Under Which Lyre"). ( )

Somewhere, I got it in to my head that I don't like Auden, or at least that I'm not meant to like Auden, which makes it a pleasant surprise every time I pick up this book and realize just how good he is.

If you're considering taking on Auden, then start here. Though the Collected Poems is certainly the superior collection, this book makes the better introduction. Auden edited his corpus repeatedly, even removing entire works, such as "Spain," regardless of the esteem they were held in. This collection represents early Auden better. It includes earlier versions of his poems, as well the first incarnation of "Spain." It also has a good introduction by Auden's literary executor Edward Mendelson. If, after finishing this, you find your thirst for Auden's poetry unslaked (or intensified, as I did), then get the Collected Poems.

A note: my copy is of the expanded second edition (2007), and it has typos, most notably in the "Vespers" of Horae Canonicae where it reads "He hope they will behave like baritoni cattivi," but should read, "He hopes..." I'm not aware of any others, but check your copy before you buy it. ( )

Full of surprises and gems. Good soul food for sad days, because just as you are feeling routed and lost, he reminds you that the torturer's horse is scratching his innocent behind on a tree. An Old Master indeed.
( )

Auden was the first poet of my teen years, so I think I lost all critical detachment some time ago. I came across his poem on the death of Yeats in an anthology, or perhaps in English class, and went down to the library at lunch to look up more of his work.

I was immediately absorbed and moved. The beauty of the language and the emotional-but-ironic tone seduced me entirely. I can't recall if I bought this book for myself or was given it by a parent, but it was my constant companion for years, and shows it. There's a crease running through the right third of the cover, the corners are curled, and favourite poems are marked with astrisks (for my first, 14-yr old enthusiams) and with other light pencil lines for later loves.

That was the beginning of a non-stop poetry orgy that lasted for over ten years. I don't read as much poetry these days, being all enthused over other things, but I know I'll return to it, and Auden will always be one of my household gods. ( )