Quotes from W.H. Auden

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good.

There head falls forward, fatigued at evening, And dreams of home...

Our researchers into Public Opinion are content That he held the proper opinions for the time of year; When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went. He was married and added five children to the population, Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation, And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education. Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.

I must bless, I must praise That you, my swan, who have All gifts that to the swan Impulsive Nature gave, The majesty and pride, Last night should add Your voluntary love.

And the truth cannot be hid; Somebody chose their pain, What needn't have happened did.

We dwell upon the earth; the earth obeys The intelligent and evil till they die. The mountains cannot judge us when we lie.

But ideas can be true although men die, And we can watch a thousand faces Made active by one lie: And maps can really point to places Where life is evil now: Nanking; Dachau.

We live here. We lie in the Present's unopened Sorrow; its limits are what we are. The prisoner ought never to pardon his cell.

Time that is intolerant Of the brave and the innocent, And indifferent in a week To a beautiful physique, Worships language and forgives Everyone by whom it lives; Pardons cowardice, conceit, Lays its honours at their feet. ...

Our hunting fathers told the story Of the sadness of the creatures, Pitied the limits and the lack Set in their finished features; Saw in the lion's intolerant look, Behind the quarry's dying glare, Love raging for, the personal glory That reason's gift would add, The liberal appetite and power, The rightness of a god. ...

Liberty to be and weep has never been sufficient: The winds surround our griefs, the unfenced sky To all our failures is a taciturn unsmiling witness.

We wander on the earth, or err from bed to bed in search of home, and fail, and weep for the lost ages Before Because became As If, or rigid Certainty The Chances Are. The base hear us, and the violent Who long to calm our guilt with murder, and already Have not been slow to turn our wish to their advantage.

Love requires an Object But this varies so much Almost, I imagine anything will do: When I was a child I Loved a pumping engine Thought it every bit as Beautiful as you

I'll love you till the ocean Is folded and hung up to dry And the seven stars go squawking Like geese about the sky. The years shall run like rabbits For in my arms I hold The Flower of the Ages And the first love of the world. But all the clocks in the city Began to whirr and chime: 'O let not Time deceive you, You cannot conquer Time.

A friend is the old tale of Narcissus Not to be born is the best for man An active partner in something disgraceful Change your partner, dance while you can.

Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.

And over the talkative city like any other Weep the non-attached angels

Beyond him his young cousins in the city Pursued their rapid and unnatural course, Believed in nothing but were easy-going, And treated strangers like a favourite horse.

They carry terror with them like a purse, And flinch from the horizon like a gun; And all the rivers and the railways run Away from Neighbourhood as from a curse.

the hospitals alone remind us Of the equality of man.

Lovers running each to each Feel such timid dreams catch fire Blazing as they touch, Learn what love alone can teach: Happy on a tousled bed Praise Blake's acumen who said: 'One thing only we require Of each other; we must see In another's lineaments Gratified desire'; That is our humanity; Nothing else contents.

Admirer as I think I am Of stars that do not give a damn, I cannot, now I see them, say I missed one terribly all day. Were all stars to disappear or die, I should learn to look at an empty sky And feel its total dark sublime, Though this might take me a little time.

Because I love you more than I can say, If I could tell you I would let you know.

The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews.