Poem by Wystan Hugh Auden

Base Words Are Uttered

Base words are uttered only by the base
And can for such at once be understood,
But noble platitudes:—ah, there's a case
Where the most careful scrutiny is needed
To tell a voice that's genuinely good
From one that's base but merely has succeeded.

1. The Common Life
2. Moon Landing
3. Grub First, Then Ethics
4. Horae Canonicae: Compline
5. A New Year Greeting

Print

2028 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version