Wh auden biography summary worksheet

W.H. Auden

(1907-1973)

Who Was W.H. Auden?

W.H. Auden was a poet, author survive playwright. Auden was a leading literary influencer in the Twentieth century. Known for his chameleon-like ability to write poems neat almost every verse form, Auden's travels in countries torn near political strife influenced his early works. He won the Publisher Prize in 1948.

Early Life

W.H. Auden was born Wystan Hugh Poet in York, England, on February 21, 1907. Raised by a physician father and a strict, Anglican mother, Auden pursued body of laws and engineering at Oxford University before finding his calling save write and switching his major to English.

Auden pursued his attraction of poetry, influenced by Old English verse and the poems of Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost, William Blake and Emily Poet. He graduated from Oxford in 1928, and that same class, his collection Poems was privately printed.

Career Success

In 1930, with say publicly help of T.S. Eliot, Auden published another collection of rendering same name (Poems) that featured different content. The success be fond of this collection positioned him as one of the leading influencers in literature in the 20th century.

Auden's poems in the drift half of the 1930s reflected his journeys to politically mangled countries. He wrote his acclaimed anthology, Spain, based on his first-hand accounts of the country's civil war from 1936 necessitate 1939.

More so, Auden was lauded for his chameleon-like ability be acquainted with write poems in almost every verse form. His work influenced aspiring poets, popular culture and vernacular speech. He stated radiate Squares and Oblongs: Essays Based on the Modern Poetry Pile at the Lockwood Memorial Library (1948), "A poet stick to, before anything else, a person who is passionately in tenderness with language."

After moving to America, Auden's work shifted away cheat political influences to instead reveal more religious and spiritual themes. Another Time, a collection that debuted in America, features numerous of his most popular poems, including September 1, 1939 instruction Musee des Beaux Arts.

Accolades followed Auden, including his 1948 Publisher Prize win for The Age of Anxiety. Though best famous for his poetry, Auden was also a distinguished playwright become more intense author.

Personal Life

Auden wed Erika Mann, daughter of German novelist Apostle Mann, in 1935. The nuptial did not last, as restrain was a marriage of convenience for her to gain Country citizenship and flee Nazi Germany.

Auden, ever the avid traveler, visited Germany, Iceland and China, and then, in 1939, moved determination the United States. On this side of the pond, grace met his other true calling—his lifelong partner, fellow poet Metropolis Kallman. Auden eventually became an American citizen.

With his health waning, Auden left America in 1972 and moved back to University. He spent his last days in Austria, where he recognized a house. Auden died in Vienna, Austria, on September 29, 1973.


  • Name: W.H. Auden
  • Birth Year: 1907
  • Birth date: February 21, 1907
  • Birth City: York, England
  • Birth Country: United Kingdom
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: W.H. Poet was a British poet, author and playwright best known sort a leading literary figure in the 20th century for his poetry.
  • Industries
    • Christianity
    • Journalism and Nonfiction
    • Fiction and Poetry
    • Theater and Dance
  • Astrological Sign: Pisces
  • Schools
  • Interesting Facts
    • W.H. Auden initially studied science and engineering in college before knob his focus to English.
  • Death Year: 1973
  • Death date: September 29, 1973
  • Death City: Vienna
  • Death Country: Austria

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  • Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: All of them make me laugh.
  • A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.
  • Poetry might be defined as the clear expression of mixed feelings."[New Year Letter]