American and British Studies Annual (Dec 2014)
Feet on the Ground: W.H. Auden’s Late Landscapes
Abstract
This paper focuses on the concept of landscape in the post-war poetry of W.H. Auden. Its aim is to define the nature of changes from Auden’s earlier poetry. By the 1950s the dynamism and vehemence of Auden’s ideological quest had substantially withered. While some of his poetic landscapes from this period refer to particular geographical locations, they remain sites for the poet’s grappling with issues that are placeless, borderless and common to man regardless of his environment and specific culture. What disappears, however, is the desire for escape from one place to another – the hallmark of Auden’s early poetry.
