Here it is again: September 1, 1939, seventy-eight years later. Can you picture Auden at that "dive" on Fifty-Second Street, (aka Swing Street) on that terrible day when the Germans invaded Poland and quaked the earth? One of the best stanzas is a metaphorical description of that bar and others like it.
Quiz of the day:
WHA disliked the last line of the penultimate stanza because he felt it was "dishonest," by which I think he meant "untrue."
He changed it to
(1) We must love one another and die
(2) We must love one another or die
(3) We must love one another or diet
(4) One must love mother nature or die
(5) If winter comes, can spring be far behind?
Light up a Winston and think of dear Wystan. Bragging rights go to the winner!
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
Posted by: Sylvie Planet | September 03, 2010 at 01:26 AM
Which one is Auden?
Posted by: B. Jackell | September 03, 2010 at 01:50 AM
"We must love pater noster or die trying"?
Posted by: Disa | September 03, 2010 at 02:06 AM
River Jordan is chilly and wide, / milk and honey on the other side. The confluence of the waters (African, Jewish) is in "the Lion," Willie, stride pianist extraordinaire, a Jew, a Black, and a World War I hero, who was not tickling the keys at the non-jumpin joint on West 52 Street that lonesome day. Poor Wystan!
Posted by: Jordan Six Rings | September 27, 2010 at 09:44 PM