Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden

The piece of literature I selected for the analysis is Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden. I believe that it is the poem reflecting the attitude (to people and the world as a whole) that is still relevant today and is shared by many.

It was typical of Auden in his late writings to address the problem of dissatisfaction of people with their environment that aggravates loneliness, misunderstanding, and self-destruction. He wrote several self-revealing works presenting him as a recluse, who is deeply nostalgic of the world of his early years that would never come back. Doggerel by a Senior Citizen is one of the most demonstrative poems of the kind. It begins with the following stanza (Auden, 2017):

Our earth in 1969

Is not the planet I call mine,

The world, I mean, that gives me strength

To hold off chaos at arm’s length.

These lines give us a picture of an old man who believes that the world has changed for the worse since the time he was a child. It could be regarded as typical grudging of an aged person; yet, if we look closer at the things he enumerates, it becomes clear that the old man not only criticizes the present chaos but also looks into the future. His speech addresses the issue of technological progress (“The automobile, the airplane,/ Are useful gadgets, but profane”) that is imposed on people but still cannot give them feelings that they miss (“Reason requires that I approve/ The light-bulb which I cannot love”); it dwells upon degraded morals of the society indulging in self-satisfaction and sin (“Sex was of course – it always is –/ The most enticing of mysteries,/ But news-stands did not then supply/ Manichean pornography); finally, it also ironically comments on the state of literature and arts (“I cannot settle which is worse,/ The Anti-Novel or Free Verse) (Auden, 2017).

Thus, it is evident that the problems described by the lyrical hero are strikingly similar to those we have to encounter today, which makes the poem relevant indeed.

References

Auden, W.H. (2017). Doggerel by a Senior Citizen. Web.

Cite this paper

Select style

Reference

StudyCorgi. (2021, May 18). Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden. https://studycorgi.com/doggerel-by-a-senior-citizen-by-w-h-auden/

Work Cited

"Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden." StudyCorgi, 18 May 2021, studycorgi.com/doggerel-by-a-senior-citizen-by-w-h-auden/.

* Hyperlink the URL after pasting it to your document

References

StudyCorgi. (2021) 'Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden'. 18 May.

1. StudyCorgi. "Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden." May 18, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/doggerel-by-a-senior-citizen-by-w-h-auden/.


Bibliography


StudyCorgi. "Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden." May 18, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/doggerel-by-a-senior-citizen-by-w-h-auden/.

References

StudyCorgi. 2021. "Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden." May 18, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/doggerel-by-a-senior-citizen-by-w-h-auden/.

This paper, “Doggerel by a Senior Citizen by W. H. Auden”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal. Please use the “Donate your paper” form to submit an essay.