Auden Group
Encyclopedia
The Auden Group is the name given to a group of British and Irish writers active in the 1930s that included W. H. Auden
, Louis MacNeice
, Cecil Day-Lewis
, Stephen Spender
, Christopher Isherwood
, and sometimes Edward Upward
and Rex Warner
. They were sometimes called simply the Thirties poets (see References).
Although many newspaper articles and a few books appeared about the "Auden Group", the existence of the group was essentially a journalistic myth, a convenient label for poets and novelists who were approximately the same age, who had been educated at Oxford and Cambridge
, who had known each other at different times, and had more or less left-wing views ranging from MacNeice's political skepticism to Upward's committed communism.
The "group" was never together in the same room; the four poets, Auden, Day-Lewis, MacNeice, and Spender, were in the same room only once in the 1930s, for a BBC broadcast in 1938 of modern poets (also including Dylan Thomas
and others who were not associated with the "Auden Group"). This event was so insignificant that Day-Lewis evidently forgot it had occurred when he wrote in his autobiography The Buried Day that the four were first together in 1953.
The connections between individual writers, as friends and collaborators, were, however, real. Auden and Isherwood produced three plays and a travel book. Auden and MacNeice collaborated on a travel book. As undergraduates, Auden and Day-Lewis wrote a brief introduction to the annual Oxford Poetry. Auden dedicated books to Isherwood and Spender. Day-Lewis mentioned Auden in a poem. But the whole group never operated as such.
, in his Talking Bronco (1946), to designate a composite figure made up of the four poets:
Campbell, in common with much literary journalism of the period, imagined that the four were a group of like-minded poets, although they shared little but left-wing views in the broadest sense of the word. Campbell elsewhere implied that the four were homosexual, but MacNeice and Day-Lewis were entirely heterosexual.
In later years the term was sometimes used neutrally, as a synonym for the "Thirties poets" or "the New Poetry of the 1930s".
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
, Louis MacNeice
Louis MacNeice
Frederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
, Cecil Day-Lewis
Cecil Day-Lewis
Cecil Day-Lewis CBE was an Irish poet and the Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake...
, Stephen Spender
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work...
, Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
, and sometimes Edward Upward
Edward Upward
Edward Falaise Upward was a British novelist and short story writer and, prior to his death, was believed to be the UK's oldest living author.-Biography:...
and Rex Warner
Rex Warner
Rex Warner was an English classicist, writer and translator. He is now probably best remembered for The Aerodrome , an allegorical novel whose young hero is faced with the disintegration of his certainties about his loved ones and with a choice between the earthy, animalistic life of his home...
. They were sometimes called simply the Thirties poets (see References).
Although many newspaper articles and a few books appeared about the "Auden Group", the existence of the group was essentially a journalistic myth, a convenient label for poets and novelists who were approximately the same age, who had been educated at Oxford and Cambridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
, who had known each other at different times, and had more or less left-wing views ranging from MacNeice's political skepticism to Upward's committed communism.
The "group" was never together in the same room; the four poets, Auden, Day-Lewis, MacNeice, and Spender, were in the same room only once in the 1930s, for a BBC broadcast in 1938 of modern poets (also including Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
and others who were not associated with the "Auden Group"). This event was so insignificant that Day-Lewis evidently forgot it had occurred when he wrote in his autobiography The Buried Day that the four were first together in 1953.
The connections between individual writers, as friends and collaborators, were, however, real. Auden and Isherwood produced three plays and a travel book. Auden and MacNeice collaborated on a travel book. As undergraduates, Auden and Day-Lewis wrote a brief introduction to the annual Oxford Poetry. Auden dedicated books to Isherwood and Spender. Day-Lewis mentioned Auden in a poem. But the whole group never operated as such.
Macspaunday
"MacSpaunday" was a name invented by Roy CampbellRoy Campbell (poet)
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, was an Anglo-African poet and satirist. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars...
, in his Talking Bronco (1946), to designate a composite figure made up of the four poets:
- Louis MacNeiceLouis MacNeiceFrederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
("Mac") - Stephen SpenderStephen SpenderSir Stephen Harold Spender CBE was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work...
("sp") - W. H. AudenW. H. AudenWystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
("au-n") - Cecil Day-LewisCecil Day-LewisCecil Day-Lewis CBE was an Irish poet and the Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake...
("day")
Campbell, in common with much literary journalism of the period, imagined that the four were a group of like-minded poets, although they shared little but left-wing views in the broadest sense of the word. Campbell elsewhere implied that the four were homosexual, but MacNeice and Day-Lewis were entirely heterosexual.
In later years the term was sometimes used neutrally, as a synonym for the "Thirties poets" or "the New Poetry of the 1930s".