'Under Which Lyre' by W.H. Auden
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A REACTIONARY TRACT FOR THE TIMES
(Phi Beta Kappa Poem, Harvard, 1946)
Ares at last has quit the field,
The bloodstains on the bushes yield
To seeping showers,
And in their convalescent state
The fractured towns associate
With summer flowers.
Encamped upon the college plain
Raw veterans already train
As freshman forces;
Instructors with sarcastic tongue
Shepherd the battle-weary young
Through basic courses.
Among bewildering appliances
For mastering the arts and sciences
They stroll or run,
And nerves that steeled themselves to slaughter
Are shot to pieces by the shorter
Poems of Donne.
Professors back from secret missions
Resume their proper eruditions,
Though some regret it;
They liked their dictaphones a lot,
T hey met some big wheels, and do not
Let you forget it.
But Zeus' inscrutable decree
Permits the will-to-disagree
To be pandemic,
Ordains that vaudeville shall preach
And every commencement speech
Be a polemic.
Let Ares doze, that other war
Is instantly declared once more
'Twixt those who follow
Precocious Hermes all the way
And those who without qualms obey
Pompous Apollo.
Brutal like all Olympic games,
Though fought with smiles and Christian names
And less dramatic,
This dialectic strife between
The civil gods is just as mean,
And more fanatic.
What high immortals do in mirth
Is life and death on Middle Earth;
Their a-historic
Antipathy forever gripes
All ages and somatic types,
The sophomoric
Who face the future's darkest hints
With giggles or with prairie squints
As stout as Cortez,
And those who like myself turn pale
As we approach with ragged sail
The fattening forties.
The sons of Hermes love to play
And only do their best when they
Are told they oughtn't;
Apollo's children never shrink
From boring jobs but have to think
Their work important.
Related by antithesis,
A compromise between us is
Impossible;
Respect perhaps but friendship never:
Falstaff the fool confronts forever
The prig Prince Hal.
If he would leave the self alone,
Apollo's welcome to the throne,
Fasces and falcons;
He loves to rule, has always done it;
The earth would soon, did Hermes run it,
Be like the Balkans.
But jealous of our god of dreams,
His common-sense in secret schemes
To rule the heart;
Unable to invent the lyre,
Creates with simulated fire
Official art.
And when he occupies a college,
Truth is replaced by Useful Knowledge;
He pays particular
Attention to Commercial Thought,
Public Relations, Hygiene, Sport,
In his curricula.
Athletic, extrovert and crude,
For him, to work in solitude
Is the offence,
The goal a populous Nirvana:
His shield bears this device: Mens sana
Qui mal y pense.
Today his arms, we must confess,
From Right to Left have met success,
His banners wave
From Yale to Princeton, and the news
From Broadway to the Book Reviews
Is very grave.
His radio Homers all day long
In over-Whitmanated song
That does not scan,
With adjectives laid end to end,
Extol the doughnut and commend
The Common Man.
His, too, each homely lyric thing
On sport or spousal love or spring
Or dogs or dusters,
Invented by some court-house bard
For recitation by the yard
In filibusters.
To him ascend the prize orations
And sets of fugal variations
On some folk-ballad,
While dietitians sacrifice
A glass of prune-juice or a nice
Marsh-mallow salad.
Charged with his compound of sensational
Sex plus some undenominational
Religious matter,
Enormous novels by co-eds
Rain down on our defenceless heads
Till our teeth chatter.
In fake Hermetic uniforms
Behind our battle-line, in swarms
That keep alighting,
His existentialists declare
That they are in complete despair,
Yet go on writing.
No matter; He shall be defied;
White Aphrodite is on our side:
What though his threat
To organize us grow more critical?
Zeus willing, we, the unpolitical,
Shall beat him yet.
Lone scholars, sniping from the walls
Of learned periodicals,
Our facts defend,
Our intellectual marines,
Landing in little magazines
Capture a trend.
By night our student Underground
At cocktail parties whisper round
From ear to ear;
Fat figures in the public eye
Collapse next morning, ambushed by
Some witty sneer.
In our morale must lie our strength:
So, that we may behold at length
Routed Apollo's
Battalions melt away like fog,
Keep well the Hermetic Decalogue,
Which runs as follows:--
Thou shalt not do as the dean pleases,
Thou shalt not write thy doctor's thesis
On education,
Thou shalt not worship projects nor
Shalt thou or thine bow down before
Administration.
Thou shalt not answer questionnaires
Or quizzes upon World-Affairs,
Nor with compliance
Take any test. Thou shalt not sit
With statisticians nor commit
A social science.
Thou shalt not be on friendly terms
With guys in advertising firms,
Nor speak with such
As read the Bible for its prose,
Nor, above all, make love to those
Who wash too much.
Thou shalt not live within thy means
Nor on plain water and raw greens.
If thou must choose
Between the chances, choose the odd;
Read The New Yorker, trust in God;
And take short views.
Editor 1 Interpretation
#Under Which Lyre: A Critical Analysis
W.H. Auden, one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century, wrote "Under Which Lyre" in 1946. The poem has been described as a meditation on the role of poetry in society, and on the poet's responsibility to tell the truth.
Auden's work has always been characterized by his unique style, which is marked by his use of irony, a surrealistic imagination, and a deep concern for social and political issues. In "Under Which Lyre," Auden tackles these themes with his usual brilliance, creating a work that is both thought-provoking and engaging.
##Background
The poem's title is a reference to the Greek myth of Orpheus, the legendary musician who could charm even the gods with his lyre. In the myth, Orpheus descends into the underworld in search of his beloved Eurydice, using his lyre to persuade Hades to let him take her back to the world of the living.
Auden's title, then, can be seen as a play on this myth, asking the question: under whose spell are we living? Who is playing the lyre that controls our lives?
##The Structure
"Under Which Lyre" is a long poem, consisting of 10 stanzas of varying lengths. It is written in free verse, with no consistent rhyme scheme or meter. This lack of formal structure allows Auden to explore his themes more freely, without being constrained by the demands of a particular poetic form.
Each stanza of the poem is marked by a different tone, ranging from ironic to melancholic to angry. This variety in tone is reflected in the poem's imagery, which is equally diverse, incorporating everything from Greek myths to contemporary politics.
Despite this variety, however, the poem is held together by a consistent sense of purpose. Each stanza builds on the one before it, creating a sense of momentum that drives the poem forward.
##The Themes
At its core, "Under Which Lyre" is a meditation on the role of poetry in society. Auden is concerned with the idea that poetry can be used as a tool of propaganda, used to manipulate people's emotions and beliefs. He is also concerned with the idea that poetry can be used to tell the truth, to reveal the hidden realities of the world around us.
Throughout the poem, Auden explores these themes in a variety of ways. He uses irony to comment on the way that poetry can be used to manipulate people's beliefs, as when he writes:
"The words of a dead man Are modified in the guts of the living."
Here, Auden is suggesting that the dead are powerless to control how their words are used by the living, who can modify them to suit their own needs.
Auden also uses surreal imagery to explore the hidden realities of the world, as when he writes:
"Children picking up our bones Will never know that these were once As quick as foxes on the hill"
Here, Auden is suggesting that the true nature of the world is often hidden from us, and that it is only through art that we can hope to uncover it.
Ultimately, though, Auden's message is a hopeful one. He believes that poetry can be used to reveal the truth about the world, and that it is the poet's responsibility to use his or her art for this purpose.
##The Style
Auden's style in "Under Which Lyre" is characterized by his use of irony and surreal imagery. His irony is often biting, as when he writes:
"The soldier is advised to forget Most of what he learned, for he Must learn to kill and to hate."
Here, Auden is drawing attention to the absurdity of war, suggesting that soldiers are trained to do things that are at odds with their natural instincts.
Auden's surreal imagery is equally effective, as when he writes:
"The glacier knocks in the cupboard, The desert sighs in the bed, And the crack in the teacup opens A lane to the land of the dead."
Here, Auden is suggesting that the world is a mysterious and unpredictable place, and that even the most mundane things can lead us to unexpected places.
##Conclusion
In "Under Which Lyre," W.H. Auden has created a work that is both profound and entertaining. His exploration of the role of poetry in society is both timely and timeless, and his use of irony and surreal imagery is both effective and memorable.
Ultimately, though, the poem's message is one of hope. Auden believes that poetry can be used to reveal the truth about the world, and that it is the poet's responsibility to use his or her art for this purpose. It is a message that is as relevant today as it was when the poem was first written, and one that we would do well to remember.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Under Which Lyre: A Masterpiece of W.H. Auden
W.H. Auden, one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century, wrote Under Which Lyre in 1946. The poem is a satirical take on the role of poets in society and their relationship with power. It is a masterpiece that has stood the test of time and continues to be relevant even today. In this article, we will analyze and explain the poem in detail.
The poem is divided into three stanzas, each with four lines. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the poem. It begins with the line, "Under which lyre does it lie?" This line is a reference to the Greek myth of Orpheus, who was a legendary musician and poet. According to the myth, Orpheus played his lyre so beautifully that he could charm even the gods. The line, "Under which lyre does it lie?" is a metaphor for the power of poetry to influence people and society.
The second line of the first stanza, "In the right hand or the left?" is a reference to politics. The right hand is associated with conservatism, while the left hand is associated with liberalism. Auden is asking whether poetry should be aligned with one political ideology or the other. The third line, "And shall it be one string more?" is a reference to the power of poetry to unite people. The fourth line, "Or shall it be one string less?" is a reference to the power of poetry to divide people.
The second stanza of the poem is a critique of the role of poets in society. Auden writes, "If we have freedom, and cannot express it, then we do not have it." This line is a commentary on the importance of free speech and the role of poets in defending it. The second line, "If we have power, and cannot use it, then it is not power," is a critique of the role of poets in society. Auden is suggesting that poets have the power to influence people and society, but they often fail to use it.
The third line of the second stanza, "If we have knowledge, and fear to use it, then it is not knowledge," is a critique of the role of poets in society. Auden is suggesting that poets have knowledge about the world and society, but they often fail to use it to effect change. The fourth line, "If we have violence, and dare not show it, then it is not violence," is a critique of the role of poets in society. Auden is suggesting that poets have the power to incite violence, but they often fail to use it.
The third stanza of the poem is a call to action. Auden writes, "The lyre is silent, and the flute hangs mute." This line is a reference to the power of poetry to inspire people to action. The second line, "The gods have all departed, and the end is nigh," is a reference to the decline of society. The third line, "The once-happy armies are all disbanded," is a reference to the end of war. The fourth line, "And the heroic dead are turned to clay," is a reference to the futility of war.
In conclusion, Under Which Lyre is a masterpiece of W.H. Auden. It is a satirical take on the role of poets in society and their relationship with power. The poem is divided into three stanzas, each with four lines. The first stanza sets the tone for the rest of the poem. The second stanza is a critique of the role of poets in society. The third stanza is a call to action. The poem is a powerful commentary on the importance of free speech, the role of poets in defending it, and the power of poetry to inspire people to action. It is a timeless masterpiece that continues to be relevant even today.
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