Wystan hugh auden selected poems

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

W. H. Auden (1907-1973) wrote a great deal of poetry, with many of the best Auden poems being written in the 1930s. In this post, we’ve taken on the difficult task of finding the ten greatest Auden poems – difficult because, although certain poems naturally rise to the surface and proclaim their greatness, there are quite a few of those.

Here’s our top ten. Are there any classic poems by Auden that we’ve left off the list? Follow the title of each poem to read it.

1. ‘Stop all the clocks’.

Also known as ‘Funeral Blues’, this poem, one of Auden’s ‘Twelve Songs’ originally published in 1936, needs no introduction, perhaps. Since it was recited in the funeral in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral, it achieved worldwide fame and brought Auden’s poetry to a whole new audience.

The poem offers a number of symbols of mourning. But mentioning these poetic tropes has a dual purpose: as well as rejecting the usefulness of such ro