Biography of Wystan Hugh Auden

W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden was a great writer and a significant poet who used his skills to influence others. Auden was from England, though he moved to the United States to build his career. He wrote poems, plays, songs, odes, and more. He lived a wonderful life, while using his talent in writing. Auden made writing a career, which was used to influence, teach, and entertain people. His works has expanded from his heart and mind into those of his family, pupils, and other individuals.

Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, England on February 21, 1907. He was born third of three sons to George Auden, who was a doctor, and Constance Bicknell, who was trained to be a nurse (NNDB). As a child, Wystan had an interest in science; his attention was moved to music, which is mother loved. At an adolescent age, Auden knew for sure that he wanted to pursue a profession of writing. Sometimes, music is used with his poetry as it writes it (Applebee 1082).

Auden attended high school at Gresham’s School and college at Christ Church, Oxford University. He began his teaching job at Malvern for five years. He also worked in filmmaking for two years before he moved to the States. “In 1939, he came to America and took out citizenship papers (Untermeyer 428).” He became a citizen in 1946. W. H. Auden was known as a playwright, critic, librettist, essayist and editor, as well. America is where he spent most of his literary career. As a professor, he lectured at many colleges, including Yale, Swarthmore, Penn State, and the University of Michigan (Applebee 1076).

Auden visited Germany, Iceland, and China, served in the Spanish Civil war. His travels influenced his writing, as we wrote about many places, and it led him to New York City in the United States...

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...ns and how. The last two lines, 12 and 13, state that the dead do not know the future. Death cannot be understood (Auden 26).

Works Cited

Applebee, Arthur N., et al. The Language of Literature: British Literature. Evanston, IL:

McDougal Little Inc., 2006.

Auden, W. H. The Collected Poetry of W. H. Auden. New York: Random House. 1945.

Untermeyer, Louis. Modern British Poetry: Mid-Century Edition. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950.

“W. H. Auden.” NNDB: Tracking the Entire World website. 2014.

“W. H. Auden.” Poets.org: From the Academy of American Poets website. 1997.

“W. H. Auden.” Poetry Foundation. 2014.

"Wystan Hugh Auden." 2014. The Bio.com website. May 07 2014