“A Secret System of Caves and Conduits”: Patterns of Thought in W. H. Auden’s Poetry About the Natural World
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This paper analyzes recurring themes and patterns of thought in the nature poetry of W. H. Auden. This topic, typically neglected in most Auden criticism, focuses on the themes from Auden's nature poetry that persist throughout his poetic career. Divided into three sections--poetry about mines and mining, poetry about the body and the natural landscape, and poetry about places unknown--this paper argues that a more complete reading of Auden occurs when one examines his work in light of the subject, the natural world, rather than in a chronological way, as in most criticism. In combining the critical approaches of Edward Mendelson and John Fuller, this paper hopes to examine an atypical topic in a unique manner. In conclusion, Auden's poetry about the natural world keeps returning to the same concerns and anxieties. Though Auden is a poet characterized in part by the way that his poetry changes throughout his life, this paper examines how these recurring themes appear repeatedly in Auden's poetry about the natural world.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | May 2016 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Grace, Hannah |
|---|---|
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Department of English |
| Primary advisor | Jenkins, Nicholas |
| Advisor | Greene, Roland |
Subjects
| Subject | W. H. Auden |
|---|---|
| Subject | Auden |
| Subject | nature |
| Subject | poetry |
| Subject | nature poetry |
| Subject | English |
| Subject | landscape |
| Subject | mines |
| Subject | Rookhope |
| Subject | Department of English |
| Subject | natural world |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Grace, Hannah (2016). “A Secret System of Caves and Conduits”: Patterns of Thought in W. H. Auden’s Poetry About the Natural World. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/yg796ty5705
Collection
Stanford University, Department of English, Undergraduate Honors Theses
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- Contact
- hgrace@alumni.stanford.edu
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