Born on 21 February of 1907, Wystan Hugh Auden is recognised as one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Auden lived through both World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) and his experiences informed his writing. As a result, many of his poems centre around morality and politics.

Highly influenced by poets who each had different styles (e.g. Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, William Blake, T.S. Eliot), Auden’s poems tackled many different styles, especially demonstrated in his famous “In Memory of W.B. Yeats”.

Auden moved from England to the United States in 1939 along with his mentor and occasional sexual partner Christopher Isherwood. Christopher went to California and Auden went to New York, where he met Chester Kallman. Chester and Auden had a sexual relationship for the next two years and maintained a relationship until Auden’s death. Chester was known to have been influential to Auden’s work and they collaborated together extensively during Auden’s life.

For further reading see Dana Gioia’s essay on Auden