“Refugee Blues” by W. H. Auden
Length: 9 page(s)
Written: Nov 2011
Sales Rank: -
Views: 236
Keywords: Refugee Blues by W. H. Auden
The poem as the metaphor for the life of European Jews during the Nazi-Regime?
W.H. Auden’s poem “Refugee Blues” clearly delivers a ‘timeline’ of the Holocaust. It depicts one of the undoubtedly cruelest periods in world-history. The reader will observe the spiral of anti-Semitism starting with social hostility against Jews followed by persecution and finally culminating in mass-murder. The reader follows the speaker’s way through Nazi-Germany, looking for a way out of hatred and emotional humiliation - finally witnessing the point of no return without being able to react or to help. This paper will have a closer look at W.H. Auden’s Holocaust poem „Refugee Blues“, especially it’s political background, the impact on the reader and the connection between its title and its theme.
A very brief summary of the political situation in Europe, here especially Germany, will be provided, which forms the very backbone of the poem’s mood and political as well as social context and relevance.
Thereafter we will have a stanza-by-stanza look at the poem itself to find out what it is about and why it catches the reader’s attention. We will also have a look at the connection between the title of the poem and its form.
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