Poeticous Logo
fr
English Español Français Italiano
W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden

Three Short Poems

The underground roads
Are, as the dead prefer them,
Always tortuous.
 
                . . .
 
When he looked the cave in the eye,
Hercules
Had a moment of doubt.
 
                . . .
 
Leaning out over
The dreadful precipice,
One contemptuous tree.

#English

1
Vous avez aimé cette lecture ? Offrez-nous un café !.
Votre aide nous permet d'exister.
Préféré par...
Autres oeuvres par W. H. Auden...
Journey to Iceland

And the traveller hopes: “Let me… Physician”; and the ports have nam… The citiless, the corroding, the s… And North means to all: “Reject”. And the great plains are for ever…
 1
A New Year Greeting

On this day tradition allots to taking stock of our lives, my greetings to all of you, Yeasts… Bacteria, Viruses, Aerobics and Anaerobics:
Man looking at the stars
The Novelist

Encased in talent like a uniform, The rank of every poet is well kno… They can amaze us like a thunderst… Or die so young, or live for years… They can dash forward like hussars…
 2
O What Is That Sound

O what is that sound which so thri… Down in the valley drumming, drumm… Only the scarlet soldiers, dear, The soldiers coming. O what is that light I see flashi…
 2
Room in New York, by Edward Hopper
Are You There?

Each lover has some theory of his… About the difference between the a… Of being with his love, and being… Why what, when dreaming, is dear f… That really stirs the senses, when…
 3
The Labyrinth

Anthropos apteros for days Walked whistling round and round t… Relying happily upon His temperment for getting on. The hundredth time he sighted, tho…
The Two

You are the town and we are the cl… We are the guardians of the gate i… The Two. On your left and on your right In the day and in the night,
Let History Be my Judge

We made all possible preparations, Drew up a list of firms, Constantly revised our calculation… And allotted the farms, Issued all the orders expedient
 1
Fish in the Unruffled Lakes

Fish in the unruffled lakes Their swarming colours wear, Swans in the winter air A white perfection have, And the great lion walks
Law, Like Love

Law, say the gardeners, is the sun… Law is the one All gardeners obey To-morrow, yesterday, to-day. Law is the wisdom of the old,
After Reading a Child’s Guide to Modern Physics

If all a top physicist knows About the Truth be true, Then, for all the so-and-so’s, Futility and grime, Our common world contains,
We're Late

Clocks cannot tell our time of day For what event to pray Because we have no time, because We have no time until We know what time we fill,
Night Mail

This is the night mail crossing th… Bringing the cheque and the postal… Letters for the rich, letters for… The shop at the corner, the girl n… Pulling up Beattock, a steady cli…
The More Loving One

Looking up at the stars, I know q… That, for all they care, I can go… But on earth indifference is the l… We have to dread from man or beast… How should we like it were stars t…
 3
Friday's Child

He told us we were free to choose But, children as we were, we thoug… “Paternal Love will only use Force in the last resort On those too bumptious to repent.”



Haut