Perspective on War

“September 1, 1939” by W.H. Auden is a comprehensive poem about war and humanity. It was a response to the outbreak of World War II, and focuses on a shift of historical failures to a possible transformation in the future. Auden’s use of allusions and imagery in this poem gives the reader a sense of time that is occurring and also a vision of the actions that are taking place. The general mood is negative and criticizing overall dictatorship, such as Hitler. This poem is trying to explain the causes of war and how they are brought about psychologically. Germany wanted revenge from being put down at the end of World War 1, “those to whom evil is done do evil in return,” so they started to take over in Europe; but America did not want any part of it, which eventually brought them into war anyways. Which leads us to the message that he wants people to be aware of what is happening around them today. His writing allows you to understand his frustrations of what has happened in the past and then the enlightenment of what could be done in the future. Overall, this was a very well written poem that allowed readers to understand Auden’s perspective on what he was living through on September 1, 1939.