Refugee Blues
Encyclopedia
Refugee Blues is a poem by W. H. Auden
, written in 1939, one of a number of poems Auden wrote in the mid- to late-1930s in blues
and other popular metres, for example the meter he used in his love poem "Calypso," written around the same time. The poem dramatizes the condition of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in the years before World War II, especially the indifference and antagonism they faced when seeking asylum in the democracies of the period.
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...
, written in 1939, one of a number of poems Auden wrote in the mid- to late-1930s in blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and other popular metres, for example the meter he used in his love poem "Calypso," written around the same time. The poem dramatizes the condition of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in the years before World War II, especially the indifference and antagonism they faced when seeking asylum in the democracies of the period.