“In Memory of WB Yeats“ by W H Auden (poetry reading)

This poem is now in its original form without Auden’s later modifications. It was one of the first poems I posted in August 2008, but then in the edited form. Although Auden admired Yeats as a poet, the poem is not really a eulogy. It contains criticisms of Yeats’ life and political views. It is important to remember that Yeats died just before WWII and that is when this original version was written. Paul Claudel (1868-1955), was a French poet, his views were extremely right-wing - but not fascist. Yeats did at one time admire Mussolini and approved of dictatorship, being influenced by Ezra Pound, although later he turned away from fascism. Auden removed three stanzas and the reason was, no doubt, that he later decided they were too critical - presumably because of what happened after 1939.