Only ten feet away, my dear, only ten feet away. Saw the fish swimming as if they were free: Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay, It's a matter of taste, I suppose, but when I read lines like the ones below, I have to say if that isn't poetry, I don't know what is: Is it poetry or propaganda? At the time many thought that Auden was crossing a line in talking so directly about the issues of the day - 'poetry' was for things like daffodils, and broken hearts, and learned disquisitions on history. Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin,īut they weren’t German Jews, my dear, but they weren’t German Jews. We were in his mind, my dear, we were in his mind. It was Hitler over Europe, saying: ‘They must die’ Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky
He was talking of you and me, my dear, he was talking of you and me. ‘If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread’ Went to a committee they offered me a chair īut where shall we go today, my dear, but where shall we go today?Ĭame to a public meeting the speaker got up and said: Take, for example, Auden's ' Refugee Blues', written in 1939 as the true horror of Hitler's policies against the Jews became increasingly undeniable: I guess one reason why is because both grappled directly with the issues of their day, rather than maintaining some kind of careful aesthetic distance from the ugly events of the mid-twentieth century - among mankind's lowest moments in terms of sheer violence and terror.Īnother reason is the way that both of them wrote: in clear, straightforward English, immediately comprehensible to most readers. Auden maintains his relevance for readers today. Like his close contemporary (though not really friend) George Orwell, W. Paypal accepted.Peter Davison, ed.: The Complete Works of George Orwell (1997-98) All books described honestly and accurately. Very occasional small mark/spot of foxing to pages. Light crease to top corner of last few pages. Odd small mark/spot of foxing to page edges and bottoms. Top of pages slightly dusty with the odd small mark/mild foxing. Previous owner's name and date in pen inside front board.
Pages are generally clean and the binding is tight. Boards are very good with minor pushing/bumping to corners, the odd very small mark and a little pushing/rubbing to head/tail of spine. Jacket has faults - namely edge/shelf wear, few tears, a little patchy loss (mainly to head/tail of spine and to corners), a few marks, patchy browning (including to spine), creasing/rubbing to edges, pushing/rubbing to head/tail of spine, the odd spot of foxing, pushing/bumping to corners, is a little grubby and is in only fair condition. True first British printing with original unclipped jacket (42s).
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