W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden (1907-1973) was born in York, England and studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. He taught in British public schools and travelled widely before becoming an American citizen and teaching at various American universities. His first collection Poems, published in 1930, garnered wide public acclaim and he continued to publish before becoming a Professor of poetry at Oxford University. Auden was famous for writing in a remarkably wide range of styles and forms. Source
The Average
His peasant parents killed themselves with toil
To let their darling leave a stingy soil
For any of those smart professions which
Encourage shallow breathing, and grow rich.
The pressure of their fond ambition made
Their shy and country-loving child afraid
No sensible career was good enough,
Only a hero could deserve such love.
So here he was without maps or supplies,
A hundred miles from any decent town;
The desert glared into his blood-shot eyes;
The silence roared displeasure: looking down,
He saw the shadow of an Average Man
Attempting the Exceptional, and ran.
Published:
1941
Length:
Shorty
Literary Movements:
Modernism
Anthology Years:
2020
Themes:
Family
Literary Devices:
Alliteration
the repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of words appearing in succession
Enjambment
a line break interrupting the middle of a phrase which continues on to the next line
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
Personification
the attribution of human qualities to a non-human thing
Rhyme
correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry