W.H. Auden

Nice piece by Worldwide favorite Alexander McCall Smith on W.H. Auden. I was introduced to him in English 140, Introduction to Poetry, at the University of Toronto in 1987. It is no longer on the calendar, although my professor, John Reibetanz, seems to be still on the faculty. The poem was "As I Walked Out One Evening," and, looking at it this morning, I can't remember why it resonated--I would love to have a transcript of our discussion that day.

I've found him to be hit or miss, but "At the Party" is in my poetic pantheon:

Unrhymed, unrhythmical the chatter goes,
Yet no-one hears his own remarks as prose.

The full poem is here. I revisit it often.