In Memory of W.B. Yeats

W.H.Auden ; Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, England, on February 21, 1907. He moved to Birmingham during childhood and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. As a young man he was influenced by the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost, as well as William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Old English verse. At Oxford his precocity as a poet was immediately apparent, and he formed lifelong friendships with two fellow writers, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1947 long poem The Age of Anxiety, the title of which became a popular phrase describing the modern era. Auden’s career has undergone much reevaluation in recent decades. While some critics have contended that he wrote his finest work when his political sentiments were less obscured by religion and philosophy, others defend his later material as the work of a highly original and mature intellect.
Many critics echo the assessment of Auden’s career by the National Book Committee, which awarded him the National Medal for Literature in 1967: “[Auden’s poetry] has illuminated our lives and times with grace, wit and vitality. His work, branded by the moral and ideological fires of our age, breathes with eloquence, perception and intellectual power.”
What is elegy ? : (in modern literature) a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. (in Greek and Latin verse) a poem written in elegiac couplets, as notably by Catullus and Propertius. An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, especially one mourning the loss of someone who died. Elegies are defined by their subject matter, and don't have to follow any specific form in terms of meter, rhyme, or structure.
Modern Elegy : For modern and contemporary poets, the elegy is a poem that deals with the subjects of death or mortality, but has no set form, meter, or rhyme scheme. While modern elegies don't have to use any particular meter or follow a particular form, they do typically follow a specific thematic arc, moving from grief toward an acceptance of death.For modern and contemporary poets, the elegy is a poem that deals with the subjects of death or mortality, but has no set form, meter, or rhyme scheme. While modern elegies don't have to use any particular meter or follow a particular form, they do typically follow a specific thematic arc, moving from grief toward an acceptance of death.
In Memory W.B.Yeast & Structure
“In Memory of W.B. Yeats” was written by Auden in February 1939 in Memory of William Butler Yeats after his death in Roquebrune (Southern France) on January 29, 1939. This poem follows the traditional elegiac form. In the poem is three – part that is divided into Stanza of different lengths. The first part of the poem contains six stanzas, the second: one and the third: six again. Auden does not make use of a rhyme scheme in the first two parts of the poem but in the third he does.

1. In Memory of W. B. Yeats Presented by : Janvi nakum

2. Name: Janvi Nakum M.A. Sem :- 1 Presentation :-2 Paper no :- 107 Paper name:- From world war II to the end of the century Topic: In Memory W. B. Yeats Roll No:- 11 Enrollment Number :- 4069206420210020 Email Id:- [email protected] Submitted To – S.B.Gardi Department of English, MKBU

3. W.H.Auden Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, England, on February 21, 1907. He moved to Birmingham during childhood and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. As a young man he was influenced by the poetry of Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost, as well as William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Old English verse. At Oxford his precocity as a poet was immediately apparent, and he formed lifelong friendships with two fellow writers, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood.He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1947 long poem The Age of Anxiety, the title of which became a popular phrase describing the modern era.

4. Auden’s career has undergone much reevaluation in recent decades. While some critics have contended that he wrote his finest work when his political sentiments were less obscured by religion and philosophy, others defend his later material as the work of a highly original and mature intellect. Many critics echo the assessment of Auden’s career by the National Book Committee, which awarded him the National Medal for Literature in 1967: “[Auden’s poetry] has illuminated our lives and times with grace, wit and vitality. His work, branded by the moral and ideological fires of our age, breathes with eloquence, perception and intellectual power.”

5. What is elegy (in modern literature) a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. (in Greek and Latin verse) a poem written in elegiac couplets, as notably by Catullus and Propertius. An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, especially one mourning the loss of someone who died. Elegies are defined by their subject matter, and don't have to follow any specific form in terms of meter, rhyme, or structure.

6. Modern Elegy For modern and contemporary poets, the elegy is a poem that deals with the subjects of death or mortality, but has no set form, meter, or rhyme scheme. While modern elegies don't have to use any particular meter or follow a particular form, they do typically follow a specific thematic arc, moving from grief toward an acceptance of death.

7. In Memory Of W.B.Yeast & Structure “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” was written by Auden in February 1939 in Memory of William Butler Yeats after his death in Roquebrune (Southern France) on January 29, 1939. This poem follows the traditional elegiac form. In the poem is three – part that is divided into Stanza of different lengths. The first part of the poem contains six stanzas, the second: one and the third: six again. Auden does not make use of a rhyme scheme in the first two parts of the poem but in the third he does. This makes sense considering the elegiac form of these last lines. They rhyme in a pattern of AABB CCDD, and so on, changing end sounds as he saw fit.

8. About The Poem First Part While nature followed its course elsewhere, mourners kept his poems alive without letting the poet’s death interfere. Yet, for Yeats himself, mind and body failed, leaving no one to appreciate his life but his admirers. He lives through his poetry, scattered among cities and unfamiliar readers and critics, who modify his life and poetry through their own understandings. While the rest of civilization moves on, “a few thousand” will remember the day of his death as special.

9. Second and Third Part In the second section of the poem, Yeats is called “silly like us.” It was “Mad Ireland” that caused Yeats the suffering he turned into poetry. Poetry survives and gives voice to survival in a space of isolation. In the third, final section of the poem, the poet asks the Earth to receive Yeats as “an honoured guest.” The body, “emptied of its poetry,” lies there. Meanwhile, “the dogs of Europe bark” and humans continue their “intellectual disgrace.” But the poet is to “follow right / To the bottom of the night,” despite the dark side of humanity somehow persuading others to rejoice in existence. Despite “human unsuccess,” the poet can sing out through the “curse” and “distress.” Thus one’s poetry is a “healing fountain” that, although life is a “prison,” can “teach the free man how to praise” life anyway.

10. https://www,lichaets.com/literary-devices-and-terms/elegy https://www,poetryfoundation.org/w-h-auden https://poets.org/poet/w-h-auden https://www.gradesaver.com/w-h-auden-poems/study-guide/summary-in-memory-of-w-b-yeats https://poemanalysis.com/w-h-auden/in-memory-of-wb-yeats

11. Thank you