Summary
Summary Refugee Blue poem analysis
- Course
- English Home Language
- Institution
- 11
A full analysis of W.H Auden's poem " Refugee Blues" for the IEB poetry syllabus of
[Show more]
Content preview
Refugees Blues- Wystan Hugh Auden (W.H Auden)Biographical Info
Born (1907-1973)
British poet – went to Oxford.
He married Erika Mann (to help her escape the Nazis)
Auden is writing as a Modernist Poet
Modernists – say it as it is & questions modern civilisation
There is no trust/faith in social rule – major doubt
Refugees blues – is pages on pages (not only the poem we are given)
MESSAGE/MEANING
Considering the experiences of Jewish refugees- fleeing from Nazi German in the build-up to
WW2
What was the reaction to these refugees:
- The complete disregard
- Indifference
- Hostility
- Antagonism
This is how inhumanity is created.
What is a refuge?
A person forced to leave his/her country to escape war/persecution.
From:
Fugure = flee
re = back
Blues:
Music genre:
- Specific structure
- Relates to a specific emotion/feeling
(sadness/down)
Refugee blue = hopelessness/ full of anguish.
STRUCTURE
- Dramatic Monologue
- Reveals the speaker’s intimate/ thoughts and emotions.
- Follows a blues genre. Has. A refrain – repetition “my dear” (acts as
chorus)
- Regular structure 12 x 3 Lines
- Rhyme scheme: AAB
- Refrain shows the hard reality.
TONE/ MOOD
- Hopeless creates an uncomfortable mood
- anguish
- Bleak
- Intimate
- Despair
, Key:
__Natural state
__Society’s cruelty/evil
__Couple’s position
__Pathetic fallacy
Say this city has ten million souls,
Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:
Yet there's no place for us, my dear, yet there's no place for us.
Once we had a country and we thought it fair,
Look in the atlas and you'll find it there:
We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now.
In the village churchyard there grows an old yew,
Every spring it blossoms anew:
Old passports can't do that, my dear, old passports can't do that
The consul banged the table and said,
"If you've got no passport you're officially dead":
But we are still alive, my dear, but we are still alive.
Went to a committee; they offered me a chair;
Asked me politely to return next year:
But where shall we go to-day, my dear, but where shall we go to-day?
Came to a public meeting; the speaker got up and said;
"If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread":
He was talking of you and me, my dear, he was talking of you and me.
Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in the sky;
It was Hitler over Europe, saying, "They must die":
O we were in his mind, my dear, O we were in his mind.
Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin,
Saw a door opened and a cat let in:
But they weren't German Jews, my dear, but they weren't German Jews.
Went down the harbour and stood upon the quay,
Saw the fish swimming as if they were free:
Only ten feet away, my dear, only ten feet away.
Walked through a wood, saw the birds in the trees;
They had no politicians and sang at their ease:
They weren't the human race, my dear, they weren't the human race.
Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors,
A thousand windows and a thousand doors:
Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours.
Stood on a great plain in the falling snow;
Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro:
Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller lexifay1711. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R65,00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
70055 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy summaries for 14 years now