Literature Study Guides

The purpose of this series is to promote the study of writing in the English language through the introduction of the major figures writing in English throughout the ages. They provide an analytical and historical framework for understanding their subjects. Stephen Wade provides an interpretation of W.H. Auden's major themes and preoccupations throughout his long career as a poet. Auden's technical ability and interest in experimental poetic forms were not always succesful, but contain insights into modern society. Despite the too-frequent intellectualism, personal allusion and highly-idiosyncratic diction inherent in Auden's method, Wade pinpoints the strength of his work.