Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939"
    A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939"
    A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939"
    Ebook30 pages27 minutes

    A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939"

    By Gale and Cengage

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 2, 2016
    ISBN9781535832847
    A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939"

    Read more from Gale

    Related to A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939"

    Related ebooks

    Literary Criticism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      To Sir, with Love

      Sep 14, 2021

      To Sir, with Love
      10 min read

    • Article

      Visible Man

      Dec 2, 2019

      Visible Man
      4 min read

    • Article

      Classifieds

      Jun 12, 2019

      ALLPOETRY.COM—Join the largest poetry community, more than 500,000 poets strong. From beginners to experts, get friendly encouragement and detailed critiques when you’re ready. No-fee contests, $50 cash prizes, active discussion forums, and join our

      26 min read

    • Article

      A Time Of Miracles

      Oct 16, 2023

      A Time Of Miracles
      3 min read

    • Article

      Michael Wood On…

      Sep 29, 2022

      In 1950, The New Yorker magazine reviewed an anthology by the German novelist and Nobel laureate Thomas Mann, then at the summit of his fame and living in exile in the US. The book, it said, gave the impression of “a major writer – but perhaps not al

      3 min read

    • Article

      Reading in the Dark

      Feb 1, 2017

      In the age of Trump, literature can sustain those searching for the courage to resist the politics of division.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Fascist Propagandists

      May 23, 2019

      A co-founder of the Dutch National Socialist Movement, van Geelkerken created the party in the image of the German National Socialists, pretty much just translating their ideology into his native language. He was more hands-on than his leader, Anton

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Reckoning Is Yet to Come

      Apr 11, 2022

      The Reckoning Is Yet to Come
      7 min read

    • Article

      From Worms To Woke

      May 26, 2022

      HAVE WE BEEN HERE BEFORE? Now, in 2022, with war abroad and woke at home, we contemplate the bitter dissolution of the hopes of the late twentieth century. Five hundred years ago, in 1521, Martin Luther’s appearance at the Diet of Worms signalled the

      5 min read

    • Article

      Blueprint For Wwii Resistance

      Sep 28, 2021

      Blueprint For Wwii Resistance
      12 min read

    • Article

      Sylvere Lotringer, Intellectual Who Infused US Art Circles With French Theory, Dies At 83

      Nov 11, 2021

      In November of 1975, a French literary scholar at Columbia University by the name of Sylvere Lotringer, along with a student, John Rajchman, organized a four-day colloquium that was intended to bring together a wave of avant-garde French theorists wi

      7 min read

    • Article

      Escape To Victory

      Jun 28, 2023

      Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir of Miraculous Survival By Daniel Finkelstein William Collins £25 Danny Finkelstein is a columnist at the Times, and a moderate Tory peer, and he lives in Pinner, north London. My mother asked me, ‘Why does

      3 min read

    • Article

      Viennese Whirl

      Aug 23, 2023

      Viennese Whirl
      3 min read

    • Article

      Is It Possible A Project That involves Reading Novels By The Thousand, From All Over The World, May Reveal Links Between Current Events And What Disasters Are Likely To Happen In The Near Future? A Team In Germany Be Lieves We Can See Upcoming Cata Strophes In The Lines Of Contemporary Fiction

      Jul 2, 2021

      Is It Possible A Project That involves Reading Novels By The Thousand, From All Over The World, May Reveal Links Between Current Events And What Disasters Are Likely To Happen In The Near Future? A Team In Germany Be Lieves We Can See Upcoming Cata Strophes In The Lines Of Contemporary Fiction
      16 min read

    • Article

      Engagement, Again

      Sep 1, 2020

      By and large, political poetry—poetry responding to national or global events, poetry of “engagement” or even “witness”—was not the norm in the United States through the 20th century. When it was written and when it was read, critical reception was h

      25 min read

    • Article

      Salvaging Their Stories

      Oct 9, 2021

      Salvaging Their Stories
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939"

    5/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Study Guide for W. H. Auden's "September 1, 1939" - Gale

      1

      September 1, 1939

      W. H. Auden

      1939

      Introduction

      W. H. Auden's September 1, 1939 is a poem about war and the futility of war. The title refers to the date that Germany crossed the border to invade Poland, an act of aggression that escalated in the following days to draw many countries allied with one side or the other into the fighting, quickly leading to the start of the Second World War.

      The poem was first published on October 18, 1939, in the New Republic. It was then included in Auden's 1940 collection, Another Time. Soon after that, though, Auden disavowed it. The uplifting tone that dominates the last two stanzas seemed to him too trite and self-congratulatory for the serious issues raised earlier.

      Despite Auden's later regret, however, this poem has struck a chord of admiration with generations of readers. It was particularly influential in the days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when it was circulated on the internet and read aloud in public. The poem's views of violence and reprisal seemed to apply accurately to the attacks sixty years later, especially since the poem takes place in New York City and focuses on the modern obsession with tall buildings. In truth, as the poem itself points out, the urges for attack, revenge, and complacency have been woven into the fabric of Western society since ancient times.

      Because of Auden's personal dislike for this poem, it was not included in his Collected Poems, and was still left out of the 2007 edition of that book. It can be found in the 1990 volume W. H. Auden: Selected Poems, which was revised and expanded in 2007 for the 100th anniversary of Auden's

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1