Postwar Poetry and the American Scene

281 Pages·2010·4.82 MB·English

by  Aidan Wasley

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Princeton University Press Princeton and oxford
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copyright © 2011 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William street, Princeton,
new Jersey 08540
in the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 oxford street,
Woodstock, oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
All rights reserved
Library of congress cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wasley, Aidan, 1968–
The age of Auden : postwar poetry and the American scene / Aidan Wasley.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-0-691-13679-0 (alk. paper)
1. American poetry—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Auden, W. H.
(Wystan Hugh), 1907–1973—influence. 3. influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)—
History—20th century. i.˜title.
Ps323.5.W37 2011
813’.5409—dc22 2010025252
British Library cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Garamond Premier Pro
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Printed in the United states of America
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To Jan and Vernagh Wasley
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List of Abbreviations ix
Preface xiii
Prologue: Auden in “Atlantis” 1
Part i
1 A Way of Happening: Auden’s American Presence 33
Part ii
2 Father of Forms: Merrill, Auden, and a Fable of Influence 77
3 The Gay Apprentice: Ashbery, Auden, and a Portrait
of the Artist as a Young Critic 109
4 The old sources: Rich, Auden, and Making Something
Happen 145
epilogue: He Became His Admirers: Saying Goodbye
to Auden 175
notes 209
index 243
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ACW Adrienne rich, A Change of World (new Haven, ct:
yale University Press 1951).
ADW Adrienne rich, An Atlas of a Difficult World: Poems
1988–1991 (new york: W. W. norton, 1991).
AWK John Ashbery, As We Know (new york: Penguin,
1979).
BBP Adrienne rich, Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose
(new york: W. W. norton, 1986).
CLS James Merrill, The Changing Light at Sandover (new
york: Knopf, 1992).
CN James Merrill, Collected Novels and Plays (new york:
Knopf, 2002).
[Auden] CP W. H. Auden, Collected Poems (new york: vintage,
1991).
[Merrill] CP James Merrill, Collected Poems (new york: Alfred A.
Knopf, 2002)
ix
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