Bibliography of W. H. Auden
Encyclopedia
This is a bibliography of books, plays, films, and libretti written, edited, or translated by the Anglo-American poet W. H. Auden
(1907-1973). See the main entry for a list of biographical and critical studies and external links.
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
(1907-1973). See the main entry for a list of biographical and critical studies and external links.
Publications by W. H. Auden
In the list below, works reprinted in the Complete Works of W. H. Auden are indicated by footnote references.Books and selected pamphlets
- PoemsPoems (Auden)Poems is the title of three separate collections of the early poetry of W. H. Auden. Auden refused to title his early work because he wanted the reader to confront the poetry itself...
(London, 1928; privately printed; different contents from 1930 volume with the same title) (dedicated to Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
). - PoemsPoems (Auden)Poems is the title of three separate collections of the early poetry of W. H. Auden. Auden refused to title his early work because he wanted the reader to confront the poetry itself...
(London, 1930; second edn., seven poems substituted, London, 1933; includes poems and Paid on Both SidesPaid on Both SidesPaid on Both Sides: A Charade was the first dramatic work written by W. H. Auden. It was written in 1928 and published in 1930. It was performed in New York in 1931 and then at the Cambridge Festival Theatre on 12 February 1934 in a programme of "experiments conducted by Joseph Gordon Macleod"...
: A Charade) (dedicated to Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
). - The OratorsThe OratorsThe Orators: An English Study is a long poem in prose and verse written by W. H. Auden, first published in 1932. It is regarded as a major contribution to modernist poetry in English....
: An English Study (London, 1932, verse and prose; slightly revised edn., London, 1934; revised edn. with new preface, London, 1966; New York 1967) (dedicated to Stephen SpenderStephen SpenderSir Stephen Harold Spender CBE was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work...
). - The Dance of DeathThe Dance of Death (Auden)The Dance of Death is a one-act play in verse and prose by W. H. Auden, published in 1933.The Dance of Death is a satiric musical extravaganza that portrays the "death inside" the middle classes as a silent dancer...
(London, 1933, play) (dedicated to Robert MedleyRobert MedleyCharles Robert Owen Medley CBE, RA, , always known as Robert Medley, was an English painter who worked in both abstract and figurative styles, and a theatre designer...
and Rupert DooneRupert DooneRupert Doone was an English dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and teacher....
). - PoemsPoems (Auden)Poems is the title of three separate collections of the early poetry of W. H. Auden. Auden refused to title his early work because he wanted the reader to confront the poetry itself...
(New York, 1934; contains Poems [1933 edition], The Orators [1932 edition], and The Dance of Death). - The Dog Beneath the SkinThe Dog Beneath the SkinThe Dog Beneath the Skin, or Where is Francis? A Play in Three Acts, by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the first Auden-Isherwood collaboration and an important contribution to English poetic drama in the 1930s...
(London, New York, 1935; play, with Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
) (dedicated to Robert Moody). - The Ascent of F6The Ascent of F6The Ascent of F6: A Tragedy in Two Acts, by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the second play in the Auden-Isherwood collaboration, first published in 1936...
(London, 1936; 2nd edn., 1937; New York, 1937; play, with Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
) (dedicated to John Bicknell AudenJohn Bicknell AudenJohn Bicknell Auden was an English geologist and explorer, and an official with the World Health Organization.Auden was born in York, the second son of George Augustus Auden and older brother of W. H. Auden. He was educated at St Edmund's School, Hindhead, Surrey, then at Marlborough College and...
). - Look, Stranger! (London, 1936, poems; US edn., On This IslandOn This IslandOn This Island is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, first published under the title Look, Stranger! in the UK in 1936, then published under Auden's preferred title, On this Island, in the US in 1937.The book contains thirty-one poems...
, New York, 1937) (dedicated to Erika MannErika MannErika Julia Hedwig Mann was a German actress and writer, the eldest daughter of novelist Thomas Mann and Katia Mann.-Life:...
) - SpainSpain (Auden)Spain is a poem by W. H. Auden written after his visit to the Spanish Civil War and widely regarded as one of the most important literary works to emerge from that war. It was written and published in 1937....
(London, 1937; pamphlet poem). - Letters from IcelandLetters from IcelandLetters from Iceland is a travel book in prose and verse by W. H. Auden and Louis MacNeice, published in 1937.The book is made up of a series of letters and travel notes by Auden and MacNeice written during their trip to Iceland in 1936....
(London, New York, 1937; verse and prose, with Louis MacNeiceLouis MacNeiceFrederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
) (dedicated to George Augustus AudenGeorge Augustus AudenGeorge Augustus Auden was an English physician, professor of public health, school medical officer, and writer on archaeological subjects....
). - On the FrontierOn the FrontierOn the Frontier: A Melodrama in Two Acts, by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, was the third and last play in the Auden-Isherwood collaboration, first published in 1938....
(London, 1938; New York, 1939; play, with Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
) (dedicated to Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
). - Selected Poems (London, 1938) (selected by Auden from previously published work)
- Education: Today - and Tomorrow (London, 1939; journalism, with T. C. WorsleyT. C. WorsleyThomas Cuthbert Worsley , who wrote as T. C. Worsley, was a British teacher, writer, editor, and theatre and television critic. He is best-remembered for his autobiographical Flannelled Fool: A Slice of a Life in the Thirties.-Biography:...
) - Journey to a WarJourney to a WarJourney to a War is a travel book in prose and verse by W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, published in 1939.The book is in three parts: a series of poems by Auden describing his and Isherwood's journey to China in 1938 ; a "Travel-Diary" by Isherwood about their travels in China itself, and...
(London, New York, 1939; verse and prose, with Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
) (dedicated to E. M. ForsterE. M. ForsterEdward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
). - Another TimeAnother TimeAnother Time is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1940.This book contains Auden's shorter poems written between 1936 and 1939, except for those already published in Letters from Iceland and Journey to a War...
(London, New York 1940; poetry) (dedicated to Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
). - Some Poems (London, 1940)) (not selected by Auden)
- The Double ManThe Double ManThe Double Man is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1941. The title of the UK edition, published later the same year was New Year Letter....
(New York, 1941, poems; UK edn., New Year Letter, London, 1941) (Dedicated to Elizabeth MayerElizabeth MayerElizabeth Mayer was a German-born American translator and editor, closely associated with W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, and other writers and musicians. In the 1940s her homes in Long Island and New York served as an artistic salon for many émigré writers.Elizabeth Mayer was born in...
). - For the Time BeingFor the Time BeingFor the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio, is a long poem by W. H. Auden, written 1941-42, and first published in 1944. It was one of two long poems included in Auden's book also titled For the Time Being, published in 1944; the other poem included in the book was "The Sea and the Mirror".The poem...
(New York, 1944; London, 1945; two long poems: "The Sea and the MirrorThe Sea and the MirrorThe Sea and the Mirror: A Commentary on Shakespeare's The Tempest, is a long poem by W. H. Auden, written 1942-44, and first published in 1944....
: A Commentary on Shakespeare's The Tempest", dedicated to James and Tania SternJames SternJames Stern Anglo-Irish writer of short stories and non-fiction.The son of a British cavalry officer of Jewish descent and an Anglo-Irish Protestant mother, Stern was born in County Meath, Ireland. After working in Southern Rhodesia as a young man, he worked for his family's bank in London and...
, and "For the Time BeingFor the Time BeingFor the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio, is a long poem by W. H. Auden, written 1941-42, and first published in 1944. It was one of two long poems included in Auden's book also titled For the Time Being, published in 1944; the other poem included in the book was "The Sea and the Mirror".The poem...
: A Christmas Oratorio", in memoriam Constance Rosalie Auden [Auden's mother]). - The Collected Poetry of W.H. Auden (New York, 1945; includes new poems) (dedicated to Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
and Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
). - The Age of AnxietyThe Age of Anxiety (poem)The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue is a long poem in six parts by W. H. Auden, written mostly in a modern version of Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse....
: A Baroque Eclogue (New York, 1947; London, 1948; verse; won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for PoetryPulitzer Prize for PoetryThe Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
) (dedicated to John BetjemanJohn BetjemanSir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
). - The Enchafèd FloodThe Enchafèd FloodThe Enchafèd Flood: or, The Romantic Iconography of the Sea is a book of three lectures by W. H. Auden, first published in 1950.The book contains Auden's 1949 Page-Barbour Lectures at the University of Virginia...
(New York, 1950; London, 1951; prose) (dedicated to Alan AnsenAlan AnsenAlan Ansen was an American poet, playwright, and associate of Beat Generation writers. He was a widely-read scholar who knew many languages. Ansen grew up on Long Island and was educated at Harvard. He worked as W. H...
). - Collected Shorter Poems, 1930-1944 (London, 1950; similar to 1945 Collected Poetry) (dedicated to Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
and Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
). - NonesNones (Auden)Nones is a book of poems by W. H. Auden published in 1951 by Faber & Faber. The book contains Auden's shorter poems written between 1946 and 1950, including "In Praise of Limestone", "Prime", "Nones," "Memorial for the City", "Precious Five", and "A Walk After Dark"."Nones" is a contemporary...
(New York, 1951; London, 1952; poems) (dedicated to ReinholdReinhold NiebuhrKarl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
and Ursula NiebuhrUrsula NiebuhrUrsula Mary Niebuhr was an American academic and theologian. She was the founder and longtime head of the Department of Religion at Barnard College in New York City.Although known as an American, she was born in Southampton, England...
) - Mountains. (1954) (pamphlet edition of a single poem, included in The Shield of Achilles)
- The Shield of AchillesThe Shield of Achilles"The Shield of Achilles" is a poem by W. H. Auden first published in 1952. The Shield of Achilles is also the title poem of a collection of poems by Auden, published in 1955.-Description:...
(New York, London, 1955; poems; won the 1956 National Book Award for PoetryNational Book Award for PoetryThe National Book Award for Poetry has been given since 1950 and is part of the National Book Awards, which are given annually for outstanding literary works by American citizens...
) (dedicated to Lincoln and Fidelma KirsteinLincoln KirsteinLincoln Edward Kirstein was an American writer, impresario, art connoisseur, and cultural figure in New York City...
). - The Old Man's Road (New York, 1956; pamphlet with poems, all included in Homage to Clio).
- W. H. Auden: A Selection by the Author (Harmondsworth, 1958; New York, 1959, as Selected Poetry of W. H. Auden) (includes some new revisions to previously published poems)
- Homage to ClioHomage to ClioHomage to Clio is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1960.The book contains Auden's shorter poems written between 1955 and 1959, including a group of poems on historical themes first published as a pamphlet titled The Old Man's Road...
(New York, London, 1960; poems) (dedicated to E. R. and A. E. Dodds). - The Dyer's HandThe Dyer's HandThe Dyer's Hand and other essays is a prose book by W. H. Auden, published in 1962.The book contains a selection of essays, reviews, and collections of aphorisms and notes written by Auden from the early 1950s through 1962. Many items were not previously published; others appeared in revised form...
(New York, 1962; London, 1963; essays) (dedicated to Nevill CoghillNevill CoghillNevill Coghill was a British literary scholar, known especially for his modern English version of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.-Life:...
). - About the HouseAbout the HouseAbout the House is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1965 by Random House ....
(New York, London, 1965; poems) (dedicated to Edmund and Elena WilsonEdmund WilsonEdmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...
). - Collected Shorter Poems 1927-1957 (London, 1966; New York, 1967) (dedicated to Christopher IsherwoodChristopher IsherwoodChristopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
and Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
). - Selected Poems (London, 1968) (includes some new revisions to previously published poems)
- Collected Longer Poems (London, 1968; New York, 1969).
- Secondary WorldsSecondary WorldsSecondary Worlds is a book of four essays by W. H. Auden, first published in 1968.The four essays in the book are based on the four T. S. Eliot Memorial Lectures that Auden delivered at the University of Kent in Canterbury in 1967...
(London, New York, 1969; prose) (dedicated to Valerie EliotValerie EliotValerie Eliot née Esmé Valerie Fletcher is the surviving widow and second wife of the Nobel prize-winning poet, T. S. Eliot...
). - City Without WallsCity Without WallsCity Without Walls and other poems is a book by W. H. Auden, published in 1969.The book contains Auden's shorter poems written from 1965 through 1968, together with his translations of the lyrics of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage, and a few poems written earlier...
and Other Poems (London, New York, 1969) (dedicated to Peter HeyworthPeter HeyworthPeter Lawrence Frederick Heyworth was an American-born English music critic and biographer. He wrote the definitive biography of Otto Klemperer and was a prominent supporter of avant-garde music....
). - A Certain WorldA Certain WorldA Certain World: A Commonplace Book, by W. H. Auden, is a book containing quotations selected by Auden with his commentary, arranged in an alphabetical sequence of topics from "Accedie" to "Writing". It was published in 1970....
: A Commonplace Book (New York, London, 1970; quotations with commentary) (dedicated to Geoffrey GorerGeoffrey GorerGeoffrey Gorer, English anthropologist and author , noted for his application of psychoanalytic techniques to anthropology.He was educated at Charterhouse and at Jesus College, Cambridge. During the 1930s he wrote unpublished fiction and drama. His first book was The Revolutionary Ideas of the...
). - Academic GraffitiAcademic GraffitiAcademic Graffiti is a book of clerihews by W. H. Auden and illustrations by Filippo Sanjust. It was published in 1971.Auden began writing in 1950 the short comic poems on literary and historical figures that he would later collect in Academic Graffiti...
(London, New York, 1971; poems) (in memoriam Ogden NashOgden NashFrederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
). - Epistle to a GodsonEpistle to a GodsonEpistle to a Godson and other poems is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1972.This book was the last book of poems that Auden completed in his lifetime; its successor, Thank You, Fog was left unfinished at his death....
and Other Poems (London, New York, 1972) (dedicated to Orlan Fox). - Forewords and AfterwordsForewords and AfterwordsForewords and Afterwords is a prose book by W. H. Auden published in 1973.The book contains 46 essays by Auden on literary, historical, and religious subjects, written between 1943 and 1972 and slightly revised for this volume....
(New York, London, 1973; essays) (dedicated to Hannah ArendtHannah ArendtHannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
). - Thank You, FogThank You, FogThank You, Fog: last poems by W. H. Auden is a posthumous book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1974.The book contains poems written mostly in 1972 and 1973; after Auden's death in September 1973 it was prepared for publication by his literary executor Edward Mendelson, who also included an...
: Last Poems (London, New York, 1974) (dedicated to Michael and Marny YatesMichael Yates (television designer)Michael Yates was a British theatre, opera, and television designer.-Early life:One of five sons of James Yates, an English lawyer; the family lived in Brooklands, Sale, Lancashire...
).
Posthumous books
Note: These are works that Auden did not intend to publish- "The Prolific and the Devourer" (1939, prose; unfinished book; published in magazine form 1981, in book form, New York, 1993).
- Lectures on Shakespeare (1946-47, reconstructed and ed. by Arthur Kirsch, Princeton, 2001).
Anthologies edited by Auden
- The Poet's Tongue (2-vol and 1-vol edns., with John Garrett, London, 1935; introduction reprinted).
- The Oxford Book of Light Verse (Oxford, 1938; introduction reprinted) (dedicated to E. R. Dodds).
- The Portable Greek Reader (New York, 1948; introduction reprinted).
- Poets of the English Language (5 vols., with Norman Holmes Pearson; New York, 1950; London, 1952; introduction reprinted).
- The Faber Book of Modern American Verse (London, 1956; US edn., The Criterion book of Modern American Verse); introduction reprinted.
- The Viking Book of Aphorisms (with Louis KronenbergerLouis KronenbergerLouis Kronenberger was an American critic and author. He was a novelist and biographer, and wrote extensively on drama and the 18th century.-Biography:He studied at the University of Cincinnati from 1921...
; New York, 1964; UK edn., The Faber Book of Aphorisms); introduction reprinted. - Nineteenth-Century British Minor Poets (New York, 1966; UK edn. Nineteenth-Century Minor Poets).
Film scripts and opera libretti
- Night MailNight MailNight Mail is a 1936 documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit. A poem by English poet W. H. Auden was written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was music by Benjamin Britten...
(1936, documentary film narrative, not published separately except as a program note). - Paul BunyanPaul Bunyan (operetta)Paul Bunyan is an operetta in two acts and a prologue composed by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by W. H. Auden. It premiered at Columbia University on May 5, 1941 to largely negative reviews, and Britten revised it in 1976...
(1941, libretto for operetta by Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
; not published until 1976). - The Rake's ProgressThe Rake's ProgressThe Rake's Progress is an opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings A Rake's Progress of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on May 2, 1947, in a Chicago...
(1951, with Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
, libretto for an opera by Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
). - Elegy for Young LoversElegy for Young LoversElegy for Young Lovers is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.-Background:...
(1961, with Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
, libretto for an opera by Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
). - The BassaridsThe BassaridsThe Bassarids is an opera in one act and an intermezzo, with music Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H...
(1961, with Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
, libretto for an opera by Hans Werner HenzeHans Werner HenzeHans Werner Henze is a German composer of prodigious output best known for "his consistent cultivation of music for the theatre throughout his life"...
based on The BacchaeThe BacchaeThe Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
of EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
). - Love's Labour's Lost (1973, with Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
, libretto for an opera by Nicolas NabokovNicolas NabokovNicolas Nabokov was a Russian-born composer, writer, and cultural figure. He became a U.S. citizen in 1939.-Life:...
, based on Shakespeare's playLove's Labour's LostLove's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.-Title:...
).
Edited selections of individual authors
- A Selection from the Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (New York, 1944; UK edn. Tennyson: An Introduction and a Selection, London, 1946); introduction reprinted.
- Selected Prose and Poetry of Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
(New York, 1950; rev. edn., 1956); introduction reprinted. - The Living Thoughts of Kierkegaard (New York, 1952; UK edn., Kierkegaard: Selected and Introduced by W. H. Auden, London, 1955); introduction reprinted.
- A Choice of De La MareWalter de la MareWalter John de la Mare , OM CH was an English poet, short story writer and novelist, probably best remembered for his works for children and the poem "The Listeners"....
's Verse (London, 1963); introduction reprinted. - Louis MacNeiceLouis MacNeiceFrederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
, Selected Poems (London, 1964). - George Gordon, Lord Byron, Selected Poetry and Prose (New York, 1966).
- G. K. ChestertonG. K. ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
: A Selection from His Non-Fictional Prose (London, 1970).
Translations
- The Magic FluteThe Magic FluteThe Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
(New York, 1956; London, 1957; with Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
, English version of Emanuel SchikanederEmanuel SchikanederEmanuel Schikaneder , born Johann Joseph Schickeneder, was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer and composer. He was the librettist of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and the builder of the Theater an der Wien...
's original German libretto to the MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
opera Die Zauberflöte) (dedicated to Anne and Irving Weiss). - Don GiovanniDon GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
(New York, 1961; with Chester KallmanChester KallmanChester Simon Kallman was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for his collaborations with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky.-Life:...
, English translation of Lorenzo da PonteLorenzo Da PonteLorenzo Da Ponte was a Venetian opera librettist and poet. He wrote the librettos for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's greatest operas, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte....
's original Italian libretto to the MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
opera). - Goethe, J. W. von. Italian Journey, tr. by W. H. Auden and Elizabeth MayerElizabeth MayerElizabeth Mayer was a German-born American translator and editor, closely associated with W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, and other writers and musicians. In the 1940s her homes in Long Island and New York served as an artistic salon for many émigré writers.Elizabeth Mayer was born in...
(London, New York, 1963); introduction reprinted. - The Elder Edda: A Selection, tr. by W. H. Auden and Paul B. Taylor (London, 1969; New York, 1970).
Editions published after Auden's death
- Collected Poems (1976, new edns. 1991, 2007, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
; Auden's final revisions). - The English Auden: Poems, Essays, and Dramatic Writings, 1927-1939 (1977, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - Selected Poems (1979, expanded edn. 2007, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
; includes earlier versions and discarded poems). - Plays and Other Dramatic Writings, 1927-1938 (1989, first vol. of The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - Libretti and Other Dramatic Writings, 1939-1973 (1993, second vol. of The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - Tell Me the Truth About Love: Ten Poems (1994, later UK edns. have 15 poems).
- Juvenilia: Poems 1922-1928 (1994, ed. by Katherine BucknellKatherine BucknellKatherine Bucknell, American scholar and novelist who resides in England.Katherine Bucknell is the editor of W. H. Auden's Juvenilia and of three volumes of the diaries of Christopher Isherwood....
; expanded edn. 2003). - As I Walked Out One Evening: Songs, Ballads, Lullabies, Limericks, and Other Light Verse (1995, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - Prose and Travel Books in Prose and Verse: Volume I, 1926-1938 (1997, third vol. of The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - W.H. Auden: Poems selected by John FullerJohn Fuller (poet)John Fuller is an English poet and author, and Fellow Emeritus at Magdalen College, Oxford.Fuller was born in Ashford, Kent, England, the son of poet and Oxford Professor Roy Fuller, and educated at St Paul's School and New College, Oxford. He began teaching in 1962 at the State University of New...
, (2000). - Prose, Volume II: 1939-1948 (2002, fourth vol. of The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - The Sea and the MirrorThe Sea and the MirrorThe Sea and the Mirror: A Commentary on Shakespeare's The Tempest, is a long poem by W. H. Auden, written 1942-44, and first published in 1944....
: A Commentary on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" (2003, ed. by Arthur Kirsch). - Prose, Volume III: 1949-1955 (2008, fifth vol. of The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - Prose, Volume IV: 1956-1962 (2010, sixth vol. of The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, ed. by Edward MendelsonEdward MendelsonEdward Mendelson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the author or editor of several books about Auden's work, including Early Auden and Later...
). - The Age of Anxiety (2011, ed. by Alan Jacobs)