4. Auden and Eliot

“Auden and Eliot” looks at the poetic careers of T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden, which both trouble the very idea of a national literature. The British-born Auden immigrated to the United States and the American-born Eliot immigrated to England. Both wrote significant poems before and after their moves. An examination of Auden and Eliot’s poetry allows us to consider how these two major poets understood American poetry and their place in it, the resources it gave them, and the limitations that frustrated them. Generations of readers have puzzled over these questions since they involve two major authors and the intersections of individual lives with complex issues of nationhood, including national identity, anxiety, and pride. In short, their work enriches the story of American poetry by complicating it.