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Home  Wystan Hugh Auden  In Memory of W.B. Yeats by W. H. Auden

 Wystan Hugh Auden

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In Memory of W.B. Refugee Blues

by W.H.
Yeats by W. H. Auden Auden 

In ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ Auden taps into themes of life

after death, the power of poetry, and the human condition. The
The Unknown
powerful and wide-ranging themes are discussed within the
Citizen by
context of Yeats’ life and death. Auden uses an exacting tone
W.H. Auden
and direct language to depict the events around Yeat’s death.

The mood is at times uplifting and at others concerning and
worrying. There are many dark images and many fewer
hopeful ones. 
 The Shield of
Explore In Memory of W.B. Achilles by
Yeats W.H. Auden
1 Summary of In Memory of W.B. Yeats

2 Structure of In Memory of W.B. Yeats 

3 Poetic Techniques in In Memory of W.B. Yeats 

4 Analysis of In Memory of W.B. Yeats 

Summary of In Memory of W.B. Learn Literary

Terms
Yeats
Birds of a
‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ by W. H. Auden is a complex feather ock
look at Yeats’ life, death and the power, or lack thereof, together
that poetry has to change the world.  Quatrain
It's a piece of
The rst part of the poem addresses the last days of Yeats’ cake
life and what it was like right after he died. Auden speaks on
the loss and how it impacted and didn’t impact, the world. The
second section of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ is directed,
through a second person speaker, to Yeats himself. While the
third is an elegy meant to sum up that which was spoken
about previously but also make new statements about what
poetry can do for humankind, especially in the face of WWII. 

You can read the full poem here at poets.org.

Search the largest

Structure of In Memory of W.B. 

Yeats 
‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ by W. H. Auden is a three-part poem
that is further divided into stanzas of different lengths. The
rst part of the poem contains six stanzas, the second: one
and the third: six again. Auden does not make use of a rhyme
scheme in the rst two parts of the poem but in the third he
does. This makes sense considering the elegiac form of these
last lines. They rhyme in a pattern of AABB CCDD, and so on,
changing end sounds as he saw t. 

Auden had a different goal in mind with each section. The rst
images what it was like when Yeats was dying, the second is
addressed to the poet himself, and the third is a much more
traditional elegy. 

Poetic Techniques in In
Memory of W.B. Yeats 
Auden makes use of several poetic techniques in ‘In Memory
of W.B. Yeats’. These include enjambment, allusion, and
alliteration. An allusion is an expression that’s meant to call
something speci c to mind without directly stating it. In the
second part of the poem, Auden alludes to some of Yeats’
other works, especially those focused on the Irish
Independence Movement and the Irish Nationalists at the
heart of it. The nal section alludes to the tragedies of the
Second World War that was brewing in 1939 when Yeats died. 

Alliteration occurs when words are used in succession, or at

least appear close together, and begin with the same sound.
For example, “dying day” in the fourth line of the rst stanza in
section one, or “Silence” and “suburbs” in stanza three of the
same section. 

Another important technique commonly used in poetry is
enjambment. It occurs when a line is cut off before its natural
stopping point. Enjambment forces a reader down to the next
line, and the next, quickly. One has to move forward in order to
comfortably resolve a phrase or sentence. For example, the
transition between lines three and four in the rst stanza of
section three or that between lines one and two of stanza
three of that same section. 

Analysis of In Memory of W.B.

Yeats 
Part I 
Stanza One 
In the rst stanza of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ the speaker
begins by referring to Yeats as having had disappeared in the
“dead of winter”. The double image of death here, especially
death in winter (as it is commonly associated) should not be
ignored. As one would expect, everything in winter is frozen,
dead, and deserted. The scene the speaker describes his a
chilling one. The “snow dis gured the public statues”. By
starting the poem off with this cold, death atmosphere Auden
is setting the scene to speak about Yeats’ own death. 

Stanza Two 
In the second stanza of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ the speaker
describes how despite the death of this great man, things go
on. The wolves are still running through the forests and the
“peasant river” is untempted by the more “fashionable quays”.

By speaking about nature in this way, personifying its
descriptions, he is alluding to the human reaction to the poet’s
death. It is clear from the emphasis placed on the
continuation of normal day to day life that the speaker is
bothered by it.

The nal two lines of this stanza suggest that when readers
encounter his poems his death ill not weigh on their minds. It
was “kept from his poems”. They continue on, just as the
people do, unchanged by the death. The poems last past his
death, as any writer would want. 

Stanza Three 
The third stanza of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ gives the reader
a very human picture of Yeats’ death. His last moments were
spent around nurses in the hospital. In the next lines, he
depicts Yeats’ body at war with itself. His “body revolted”
against itself and the “squares” (alluding to the architecture of
a city square) “of his mind were empty”. There was nothing
but “silence” in the suburbs. These human-built images are
juxtaposed against the more natural imagery in the previous
stanzas. 

In the last line, he returns to the image of water that he

touched on earlier in the poem. He adds that the poet became
“his admirers”. His memory lived on in those who loved his
written works. 

Stanza Four 
In the fourth stanza of the rst section of ‘In Memory of W.B.
Yeats’ the speaker describes how Yeats’ soul and essence are
“scattered among a hundred cities” among all his admirers. He 
is still living, in a way, but has no control over how he’s
perceived. He is in the “guts of the living” where his words are
“modi ed”. This way of being is different, strange, and
“unfamiliar” to the poet. By speaking about Yeats in the
present tense in this stanza Auden emphasizes the theme of
life after death. 

Stanza Five 
Once again Auden speaks on how the human world is going
on without pause. He uses a simile to describe how the
“brokers are roaring like beasts” (they are back to work) on the
“bourse,” or the Paris version of Wall Street. He also describes
the poor as back to normal as well, they suffer as they always
do. This is an unhappy image of the world that is only
expanded in the next lines as he speaks more broadly about
humankind. He says that all are in the “cell of himself” where
they are “convinced” almost, of their own freedom. 

Yeats’ death is only one more moment of unpleasantness in

the world. It passes just like everything else does. 

Stanza Six 
The last two lines of this rst part of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’
act as a refrain. They are a repetition of the two lines at the
end of the rst stanza, reemphasizing the need for different
instruments to measure the poet’s death. Humans are unable
to adequately measure “The day,” or any day. This speaks to
nature’s ability to move on, without fully comprehending
something that’s happened. This is how Auden feels about the
passing of Yeats’ death day. 


Part II
Stanza One 
The second part of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ is only one
stanza long. At the beginning of this ten-line section the
speaker transitions from the third person to second. He
addresses Yeats calling him “you”. The speaker says that
“your gift survived it all”. It outlasted “your” physical decay and
the “parish of rich women”. It is still there after “Mad Ireland
hurt you into poetry”. 

Ireland is still as mad as it was and Yeats’ poetry, in the end,

has made no difference. These are powerful lines that strike at
the heart of one’s perception of the possibility of literature to
effect change. These lines also refer to Yeats’ criticism and
involvement in the Irish independence movement. In a number
of other poems, such as ‘Easter, 1916,’ he speaks about this
movement and the Irish Nationalists who were at the heart of
it.  

The speaker explains that nothing changed in the world due to

Yeats’ poetry as poetry is not supposed to be something
wielded for change. It is meant to do something different,
something more ephemeral. The speaker says that poetry, like
water (again) is something that “ ows”. It enters into the
“ranches of isolation and the busy griefs”. It travels from place
to place, soothing bits of the world normally left untouched.
Poetry is a “way of happening, a mouth” It is mobile and
powerful, just not in the way Yeats’ might’ve sometimes
hoped.  

Part III

Stanza One 
The third section of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ begins with
Auden addressing the earth. This part of the poem takes the
form of an elegy or a work written in dedication to someone
recently deceased. He asks it to revive Yeats’ body where he is
laid to rest. This is also the rst time that “William Yeats” is
mentioned by name. He was a “vessel” for his poetry and now
that’s all that remains. It is empty of the poetry it once held.

Stanza Two 
The second stanza of this section of ‘In Memory of W.B.
Yeats’ gives the reader a few more details about the poet’s
death. It occurred in 1939 in the lead up to World War II. A
nightmare is on its way and “All the dogs of Europe bark” at its
approach. The nations of the world are “sequestered,”
separate from one another basking in their individual hate.
This separation and those differences are at the source of the
con ict. 

A reader should also take note that for the rst time in this
long work Auden is using a rhyme scheme. 

Stanza Three 
The power that poetry once held to “ ow” between worlds
seems lost in this stanza. “Intellectual disgrace” is what one
can nd in “every human face”. Nothing pleasant is occurring
at this time in the world. It is interesting to consider why
Auden chose to write so much about the political climate of
the time in a poem that was supposed to be about Yeats. This
was likely because of Yeats’ own interest in politics and the
closeness with which he kept tabs on the world. By speaking
about the wider world he is also giving more context to the

time period in which Yeats died. 
Stanzas Four and Five 
In the fourth stanza of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats’ the speaker
celebrates Yeats’ ability to look into the “bottom of the night”
with his “unconstraining voice”. IT was a tool that allowed him
to see clearly. It still has power as well. This is another
example of life after death that was so important in the rst
part of the poem. 

Auden uses dark images in the fth stanza to suggest how

Yeats would’ve spoken about the state of the world during the
Second World War. He’d “sing of human unsuccess / in a
rapture of distress”. 

Stanza Six 
In the nal stanza of ‘In Memory of W.B. Yeats,’ the speaker’s
tone lightens, as does the imagery. The image of water
appears again as well. The “healing fountain” should “Start” in
the hearts of men, the speaker says. 

The poem ends optimistically but also with a dark image of

the human condition. He states that life is a “prison” and that
by spending time with poetry, speci cally Yeats’ poetry, one
can learn how to praise, or be hopeful.

A a d k v s

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About The Author

Emma Baldwin

Emma
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graduated
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BA in English, minor in Creative Writing, BFA in Fine Art, 
and BA in Art Histories. Literature is one of her greatest
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