Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, North Yorkshire, as the son of George Augustus Auden, a distinguished physician, and Rosalie (Bicknell) Auden. Solihull in the West Midlands, where Auden was brought up, remained important to him as a poet. Auden was educated at St. Edmund's Hindhood and then at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. In 1925 he entered Christ Church, Oxford. Auden's studies and writing progressed without much success: he took a disappointing third-class degree in English. And his first collection of poems was rejected by T. S. Eliot at Faber & Faber. At one time in his undergraduate years he planned to become a biologist. From 1928 to 1929 he lived in Berlin, where he took advantage of the sexually liberal atmosphere, and was introduced to the psychological theories of Homer Lane. After returning to England Auden taught at a prep school, in 1930 privately in London, at Larchfield Academy, a boys' school in Helensburgh (Scotland), and at Downs School, Colwall, Herefordshire in 1932-35. He was staff member of GPO film Unit (1935-36), making documentaries such as 'Night Mail' (1935). Music for this film was provided by Benjamin Brittein, with whom Auden collaborated on the song-cycle 'Our Hunting Fathers 'and on the unsuccessful folk-opera 'Paul Bunyan'. In 1936 Auden traveled in Iceland with Louis MacNeice - Auden believed himself to be of Icelandic descent. Auden first gained attention in 1930 when his short verse play called ''Paid on Both Sides'' was published in T. S. Eliot's periodical The Criterion. In the same year appeared Auden's POEMS, his first commercially published book, in which he carefully avoided Yeatsian romantic self-expression - the poems were short, untitled, and slightly cryptic. Auden soon gained fame as a leftist intellectual. He showed interest in Marx and Freud and he wrote passionately on social problems, among others in LOOK, STRANGER! (1936). However, by 1962 he argued that art and politics were best kept apart, stating in his essay 'The Poet and the City' that "All political theories which, like Plato, are based on analogies drawn from artistic fabrication are bound, if put into practice, to turn into tyrannies." Compressed figures of speech, direct statement, and musical effect characterized ON THIS ISLAND (1937) and ANOTHER TIME (1940). In the late 1930s Auden's poems were perhaps less radical politically, suffering and injustice are not rejected as a part of ordinary life. The last works from this decade astonished readers with their light comic tone and domesticity.
William Wegman never really wanted a dog. He was too caught up in his photography to be bothered, but his wife had a different idea. When William and his wife moved from Wisconsin to California they started looking for a dog. They decided to go with a Weimaraner when there was no luck with finding a Dalmatian. There first weimaraner was named Man Ray and the first thing William did when he took Man Ray home was take his picture, the rest is history.
As similar as “Civil Disobedience” and The Monkey Wrench Gang are in terms of themes and activism, Thoreau’s influence on Abbey is most pronounced in the comparison of Thoreau’s greatest work, Walden, and Abbey’s personal desert meditation, Desert Solitaire. The publication of Desert Solitaire first drew critics’ eyes to Abbey’s connection with Thoreau, and it caused Abbey to be labeled “a road company Thoreau” by Clifton Fadiman (Cahalan 163). From that point in his career, Abbey was often equated with Thoreau, and though it took many years, Abbey “encouraged the use of ‘the Thoreau of the American West’ as a blurb on the hardback jacket of Beyond the Wall” (Cahalan 163). Abbey would quickly change his mind about this comparison to Thoreau, but it has followed him, for good reason, throughout his career. Beyond the texts’ similarities in construction and subject matter, they are grouped together as “Solitude and Backcountry Living” in Thomas Lyon’s “Taxonomy of Nature Writing” (278), and they both reveal the authors’ personas and great truths about modern society and natural living.
Toni Morrison, in her work, Rootedness: The Ancestor as Foundation, voices her opinion about the responsibility of the artist and proclaims that art should be political. I would like to examine Grace Paley and Phillip Roth's short stories and Toni Morrison's novel, The Bluest Eye. Each of these works can be considered political, and I believe they fit Morrison's idea of what literary fiction should be.
Edgar Allan Poe, born January 19, 1809, was an American poet, widely known for his literature and his belonging toward Romanticism. Born in Boston, he was soon orphaned after the abandonment of his father and death of mother between 1810-1811. In 1827, Poe released his first book, “Tamerlane and Other Poems”. This was not the only one, however, for he released several other books before the death of his older brother in 1831. After his brother’s death, Poe made the decision to become a writer.
He then spent 11 months at the University of Virginia but due to his gambling problem, his guardian refused to let him continue his schooling. In 1827 he published his first collection of poems. His poems didn’t do so
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, born in Portland, Maine (“Henry”) on February 27, 1807(“Longfellow, Henry”), grew up not wealthy, but well off. Both sides of the family consisted of several American Revolution war heroes and political leaders, making the Longfellow name well respected. His parents strongly encouraged literature, and they urged Henry and his siblings to borrow books from the family library often (Schoonmaker 4). He enjoyed literature, and emerged as an author for the first time at age thirteen when his work was published in the local newspaper (Belanger). Longfellow started college at Bowdoin College at age 15, and much to his father’s chagrin, but with his mother’s encouragement, pursued literature (“Longfellow,”; “Henry W.”). Longfellow became serious about his writing, specifically poetry, in his time at college (Schoonmaker 5). National magazines, such as American Monthly and the United States Literary Gazette, began to publish his works. Before Longfellow graduated in 1825, Bowdoin offered him a position as a professor of modern languages. This required him to travel to Europe and study for a few years, and he eagerly accepted the offer (“Henry W.”). Longfellow traveled to France, Germany, Spain, and Italy and mastered the lang...
When Mr. Allan’s business took them to Great Britain, Poe did not waiver and continued to flourish in his studies. He was brought up in England between the years of 1815 and 1820, where he attended the Manor School at Stoke Newington (Wilson). Six years later in 1826, Poe moved back to America and attended the University o...
Edgar Allan Poe is considered one of the greatest of his time. He lived with his parents No sooner than his father had left his mother passed. She died from tuberculosis at the mere age of twenty four. Poe and his siblings were by her side until her last breath. He later became the dependent of John Allan of Richmond, Virginia hence Allan being Poe’s middle name. The Allans were quite fond of young Poe as they had no children. Frances Allan was very motherly and nurturing towards Poe which was unfamiliar to him (Meltzer). At the age of five he began his schooling with a private tutor. He soon had a keen ear for music and was able to recite English poems. He would sparsely see his brother and sister from time to time. At age six the family moved to England where Poe continued his schooling. He was considered one of the most famous student and could speak French, Latin and knew a lot about literature. In his teen years Edgar began studying in Richmond schools. There were no free public education system at that time (Lange). He continued to excel in his love for languages. He continued to write poems and would always read them for his fellow classmates. At the age of seventeen he began to attend the University of Virginia in Charlottesville with very little money. He could only afford to take two classes which were Latin and French. He had an interest for math which he could not pursue because he had no funds to pay it. Poe thought that the university was “wild” with students gambling, drinking and fighting. Poe had a turbulent upbringing and his misfortunes are very much embedded in his stories.
Woodring, Carl. Politics in English romantic poetry . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970. Print.
Alexander, Doris. “Eugene O’Neill as Social Critic” in O’Neill and His Plays. Oscar Cargill et. al. eds. NY: New York University Press, 1963.
Moody, Anthony David. The Cambridge Companion to T.S. Eliot. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 121. Print.
William Wordsworth is a British poet who is associated with the Romantic movement of the early 19th century. Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England. Wordsworth’s mother died when he was seven years old, and he was an orphan at 13. This experience shapes much of his later work. Despite Wordsworth’s losses, he did well at Hawkshead Grammar School, where he firmly established his love of poetry. After Hawkshead, Wordsworth studied at St. John’s College in Cambridge and before his final semester, he set out on a walking tour of Europe, an experience that influenced both his poetry.
Oscar Wilde had a quick and fluid intelligence coupled with a gift for languages. His early education included attending Porotra Royal School in Enniskillen (1873) Trinity College in Dublin (1874-1879), and Magdalen College in Oxford. He excelled in his studies. Along with his schoolwork, Wilde began to build his reputation as a poet. His early work garnered some success. In 1878, Oscar Wilde won the Newdigate prize for poetry. His entry was inspired by a vacation to Ravenna.
Faced with a world lacking variety, viewpoints, vibrancy, and virtue- a world without life- a fearful and insecure T.S. Eliot found himself the only one who realized all of civilization had been reduced to a single stereotype. Eliot (1888-1965) grew up as an outsider. Born with a double hernia, he was always distinguished from his peers, but translated his disability into a love of nature. He developed a respect for religion as well as an importance for the well-being of others from his grandfather at a young age, which reflected in his poetry later in life. After studying literature and philosophy at Harvard, Eliot took a trip to Paris, absorbing their vivid culture and art. After, he moved on to Oxford and married Vivien Haigh-Wood. Her compulsivity brought an immense amount of stress into his life, resulting in their abrupt separation. A series of writing-related jobs led Eliot to a career in banking and temporarily putting aside his poetry, but the publication of “The Waste Land” brought him a position at the publishing house of Faber and Gwyer. His next poem, called “The Hollow Men” reflected the same tone of desolation and grief as “The Waste Land.” Soon after, he made a momentous shift to Anglicanism that heavily influenced the rest of his work in a positive manner. Eliot went on to marry Valerie Fletcher, whom he was with until the end of his life, and win a Nobel Prize in literature. T.S. Eliot articulates his vast dissatisfaction with the intellectual desolation of society through narrators that share his firm cultural beliefs and quest to reinvigorate a barren civilization in order to overcome his own uncertainties and inspire a revolution of thought.