W. H. Auden Quotes - Page 14

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To the man-in-the-street, who, I'm sorry to say, is a keen observer of life. The word Intellectual suggests straight away. A man who's untrue to his wife.

W. H. Auden

Sorry, Men, Intelligent

New Year Letter (1961) note to line 1277

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It takes little talent to see what lies under one's nose, a good deal to know in what direction to point that organ.

W. H. Auden

Lying, Noses, Littles

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The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.

W. H. Auden

Pain, Grief, Suffering

W. H. Auden, “September 1, 1939”

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A god who is both self-sufficient and content to remain so could not interest us enough to raise the question of his existence.

W. H. Auden

Self, Enough, Existence

"Forewords and Afterwords" by W. H. Auden, ("The Greeks and Us"), (p. 15), 1973.

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In a game, just losing is almost as satisfying as just winning... In life the loser's score is always zero.

W. H. Auden

Zero, Winning, Games

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Does God judge us by appearances? I Suspect that He does.

W. H. Auden

Judging, Doe, Appearance

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An honest self-portrait is extremely rare because a man who has reached the degree of self-consciousness presupposed by the desire to paint his own portrait has almost always also developed an ego-consciousness which paints himself painting himself, and introduces artificial highlights and dramatic shadows.

W. H. Auden

Men, Self, Ego

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Between labor and play stands work. A man is a worker if he is personally interested in the job which society pays him to do; whatfrom the point of view of society is necessary labor is from his point of view voluntary play. Whether a job is to be classified as labor or work depends, not on the job itself, but on the tastes of the individual who undertakes it. The difference does not, for example, coincide with the difference between a manual and a mental job; a gardener or a cobbler may be a worker, a bank clerk a laborer.

W. H. Auden

Jobs, Work, Men

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With the farming of a verse
Make a vineyard of the curse

W. H. Auden

Poetry, Vineyards, Farming

W.H. Auden (2016). “Canción de cuna y otros poemas”, p.150, DEBOLS!LLO

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There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance.

W. H. Auden

Responsibility, Verbs, Machines

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The camera may do justice to laughter, but must degrade sorrow.

W. H. Auden

Laughter, Justice, Sorrow

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I used to try and concentrate the poem so much that there wasn't a word that wasn't essential. This leads to becoming boring and constipated.

W. H. Auden

Trying, Essentials, Becoming

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O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.

W. H. Auden

Time, Conquer, Before Sunrise

1940 'As I Walked Out One Evening'.

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In life the loser's score is always zero.

W. H. Auden

Zero, Losing, Loser

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My poetry doesn't change from place to place - it changes with the years. It's very important to be one's age. You get ideas you have to turn down - 'I'm sorry, no longer'; 'I'm sorry, not yet.

W. H. Auden

Sorry, Maturity, Years

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There is no love;
There are only the various envies, all of them sad.

W. H. Auden

Sadness, Envy, Various

'In Praise of Limestone' (1951) l. 58

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But if a stranger in the train asks me my occupation, I never answer "writer" for fear that he may go on to ask me what I write, and to answer "poetry" would embarrass us both, for we both know that nobody can earn a living simply by writing poetry.

W. H. Auden

Writing, Answers, Goes On

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By mourning tongues The death of the poet was kept from his poems.

W. H. Auden

Mourning, Tongue, Poet

"In Memory of W. B. Yeats" l. 10 (1940)

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Marriage is rarely bliss
But, surely it would be worse
As particles to pelt
At thousands of miles per sec
About a universe
In which a lover's kiss
Would either not be felt
Or break the loved one's neck.

W. H. Auden

Kissing, Would Be, Necks

"After Reading a Child's Guide to Modern Physics". Poem by W. H. Auden, 1961.

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I said earlier that I do not believe an artist's life throws much light upon his works. I do believe, however, that, more often than most people realize, his works may throw light upon his life. An artist with certain imaginative ideas in his head may then involve himself in relationships which are congenial to them.

W. H. Auden

Believe, Artist, Ideas

"Forewords and Afterwords" by W. H. Auden, ("The Greatest of the Monsters"), (p. 247), 1973.

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Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.

W. H. Auden

Children, Fear, Night

W.H. Auden (2016). “Canción de cuna y otros poemas”, p.159, DEBOLS!LLO

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Looking up at the stars, I know quite well That, for all they care, I can go to hell, But on earth indifference is the least We have to dread from man or beast. How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me. Admirer as I think I am Of stars that do not give a damn, I cannot, now I see them, say I missed one terribly all day. Were all stars to disappear or die, I should learn to look at an empty sky And feel its total dark sublime, Though this might take me a little time.

W. H. Auden

Stars, Passion, Dark

W. H. Auden, “The More Loving One”

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O plunge your hands in water, Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin And wonder what you've missed.

W. H. Auden

Regret, Hands, Water

'As I Walked Out One Evening' (1940)

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Beauty, midnight, vision dies: Let the winds of dawn that blow Softly round your dreaming head Such a day of welcome show Eye and knocking heart may bless, Find our mortal world enough; Noons of dryness find you fed By the involuntary powers, Nights of insult let you pass Watched by every human love.

W. H. Auden

Dream, Heart, Eye

W. H. Auden, “Lullaby”

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Thou shalt not answer questionnaires Or quizzes upon world affairs, Nor with compliance Take any test. Thou shalt not sit with statisticians nor commit A social science.

W. H. Auden

Math, Tests, Answers

W.H. Auden (2016). “Canción de cuna y otros poemas”, p.219, DEBOLS!LLO

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Born: February 21, 1907
Died: September 29, 1973
Occupation: Poet
Cite this Page: Citation

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