Auden on Reading
Prefatory Remarks
We do not hear about, or read enough Auden! I am speaking of Wystan Hugh Auden (February 21, 1907 — September 29, 1973), one of the most brilliant poets, critics, essayists, and playwrights, not to mention his talents in opera libretti, music, and collaborations. Auden gave his full effort to everything. He was not afraid to speak his mind and was an unashamed formalist when it came to his poetry. During an interview, Auden was asked whether the preference of today's poets for free verse was an aversion to discipline. The response from the great man was accurate, well-reasoned, and definitely not surprising.
Unfortunately that’s too often the case. But I can’t understand—strictly from a hedonistic point of view—how one can enjoy writing with no form at all. If one plays a game, one needs rules, otherwise there is no fun. The wildest poem has to have a firm basis in common sense, and this, I think, is the advantage of formal verse. Aside from the obvious corrective advantages, formal verse frees one from the fetters of one’s ego. Here I like to quote Valéry, who said a person is a poet if his imagination is stimulated by the difficulties inherent in his art and not if his imagination is dulled by them. I think very few people can manage free verse—you need an infallible ear, like D. H. Lawrence, to determine where the lines should end.
From the Paris Review, Issue 57, Spring 1974, "W. H. Auden, The Art of Poetry No. 17"
In a similar manner to Eliot, he did not typically believe in the concept of free verse, or perhaps believed that it was not well executed by poets. Nothing is ever free.
The essay being considered here is from the prologue of “The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays.” As we would expect from its classification as a prologue, it is a relatively short essay that gives us some idea of what will follow and about Auden himself. Overall, the essays in this book are interesting in the manner they are written, and contain many personal insights into life, writing, and poetry.
On some occasions, comments and observations by Auden can be rather cheeky if not crude, and at other times appear to be quite random. However, they all meld to form a work of delightful reading and inspiration.
Reading
To read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. (p.3)
This should make perfect sense because in many cases, and especially in poetry, the poet writes from themselves unless their position or motive (perhaps financial) requires otherwise. We may find that a reader relates to what is written, but it is extremely unlikely that it will be due to having the exact same experience as the writer.
In reading any work, the reader will translate or interpret what they are reading according to their personal experiences. This is the natural tendency due to the nature of the matter; we interpret things according to our knowledge of them. If there is a bad translation or understanding, the work will be considered worthless or at least disagreeable. If the work is good, it is praised because the reader agrees. The two possibilities pointed out by Auden are paraphrasing and literal interpretation, both of which can be exercised incorrectly at any time. Essentially, the reader requires an instinct to understand what is written. It is easier to understand a writer if we are familiar with their work or if they are an established writer. In this case, we are accustomed to the virtues and defects in their writing style. For a new writer, it is more difficult because it relies on another to bring their work to the attention of the public.
Auden has a hierarchy of the number of ways a work can be read:
some readings are obviously "truer" than others, some doubtful, some obviously false, and some, like reading a novel backwards, absurd (p.4)
And with respect to reading others:
A poet cannot read another poet, nor a novelist another novelist, without comparing their work to his own. (p.5)
For some writers, this would not be obvious, but I believe we all do this even if we are not conscious of the process at the time. We are mentally making judgments and comparisons on both virtues and defects in what we read. The truth is that we may find more defects in the other’s work because we consider our own work more worthy, purely because we understand and know the origins of what we write. It may also be the case that the ego, too, plays a part.
We have, on the other hand, those who become so enamored with the writer that they make every effort to produce work like that specific writer. As a result, the individual morphs into a poor imitation of their hero.
The Reading Critic
Auden's ideas concerning critics are very astute. The fact is that the critic must be able to describe the work to the reader so that they, the reader, may be informed enough to make judgments about the work themselves. As with all criticism, the author of the work may have foreseen what the critic would say, but this may not necessarily occur to the critic when writing. We might ask: With what is the critic making comparisons? Merely a comparison with other acquired knowledge, perhaps worse, their personal preferences may be coming into play.
As such, Auden considers his own requirements of the critic; the critic needs to offer something other than an act of condemning or praising a work of literature. They need more answers to the questions: How? What and Why?
Granted, the critic or reviewer may prefer something else or another book given to them. Something on a topic that gives them pleasure in reading, or that they have some prior knowledge of the subject matter involved.
What is required is scholarship and superior insight. The first allows the critic to pass on knowledge understandably, and the second raises new and important questions, regardless of whether their readers agree.
A scholar is one who may acquire a pupil. Scholarship is a relation between one who knows more and one who knows less (p.9). However, it is possible that the pupil may have a better understanding than the one who imparts the knowledge.
The one thing I most emphatically do not ask of a critic is that he tell me what I ought to approve of or condemn. (p.9)
The critic should push those whom they believe to be good and keep quiet about the rest. They should not be concerned about converting the masses to their way of thinking. The critic should never be so bold as to assume that their comments are correct or interpreted as they would hope by the general reader.
The thoughts of a critic should never be taken as unquestionable. Critics are prone to, under some circumstances, exaggeration in areas of both virtue and defect, whichever is the easiest and most obvious. Many, but not all critics will take the most obvious path to recognition because they will neglect or underestimate the reading pubic. Let's just put it out there and let the readers form their judgment of the matter.
Classifying the Writer
In reading, a reviewer will commonly, or at least be tempted, to classify or label an author according to how they write, or the subject matter they write about. It may also be the case that their mentor did the same thing, or they have observed it from other critics. We would agree that the classification of writers is absurd (p.12). Unless there is a good reason for doing so, it can be damaging to the writer's reputation and development. The act is more an effort to stamp one’s authority upon the general reading community. Naturally, if there are both scholarship and superior insight, that is an entirely different situation, and this is a critic to heed.
Concluding Remarks
As a relatively short essay for introductory purposes, Auden has expressed his thoughts and feelings on several areas related to reading and reading another’s work. His wording is very precise, if not bordering on pedantic, but this is what we come to expect from this talented writer, poet, playwright, librettist, and the list goes on. There are many occasions when Auden makes the obscure obvious, and something that may not have occurred to us takes on a different light.
One fact to take away from this prologue essay is that Auden does not suffer fools. This became more apparent later as he wandered the many different paths of life.