Poems (1930; revised 1933) is the unimaginatively plain title of W. H. Auden’s first published collection of poetry. Its contents, however, are anything but plain or unimaginative, this book announcing the arrival of an intriguingly original new talent on the English poetic scene. Nothing in Poems had appeared before the poetry-reading public in magazines or anthologies prior to January 1930, with the result that Auden did not acquire gradual recognition but seemed to arrive fully-formed as a sudden revelation, although readers struggled to make full sense of the poems. He was only 23 years old when it appeared, but his first book exerted a shaping influence on a new generation of writers in the 1930s.

2088 words

Citation: Baldick, Chris. "Poems". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 February 2019 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38920, accessed 29 March 2024.]

38920 Poems 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.