W. H. Auden, May with its light behaving

Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Ed. by Chris Baldick, Goldsmiths College, University of London
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Newman University), Louise McDonald (Newman University)

Dates

First circulation or publication May 1935

Places

England (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

“May with its light behaving” (1935; revised under the title “May”, 1966) is a 28-line poem by W. H. Auden, classified by him as a “song”. It treats the traditional subject of springtime renewal in a modernised manner combining Freudian motifs with an anxious historical and moral awareness, culminating in a restatement of Auden’s recurrent theme at this time, the pettiness of private loves in a world of injustice. By contrast with Auden’s earlier spring-piece, Part I of “It was Easter as I walked in the public gardens” (1930; later titled “1929”), this poem is notably impersonal, lacking as it does any lyric “I” figure, or any emotional response to …

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2264 words

Citation: Baldick, Chris. "May with its light behaving". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 February 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35867, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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