W.H. Auden Collection (VMF006), 1939-1970 | MSS Manuscripts

Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh) (1907-1973)

Wystan Hugh Auden (February 21, 1907 – September 29, 1973) was an Anglo-American poet, born in England, later an American citizen, regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.  His work is noted for its stylistic and technical achievements, its engagement with moral and political issues, and its variety of tone, form and content. The central themes of his poetry are love, politics and citizenship, religion and morals, and the relationship between unique human beings and the anonymous, impersonal world of nature.

Auden published about four hundred poems, including seven long poems (two of them book-length). He also wrote more than four hundred essays and reviews about literature, history, politics, music, religion, and many other subjects. He collaborated on plays with Christopher Isherwood and on opera libretti with Chester Kallman, worked with a group of artists and filmmakers on documentary films in the 1930s and with the New York Pro Musica early music group in the 1950s and 1960s.