Includes bibliographical references and index.

In his "New Year Letter" of 1 January 1940 W. H. Auden cites "The far interior of our fate / To civilize and to create". During his lifetime (1970-73) Auden explore this far interior in a highly civilized and creative manner: in the socially conscious poems and plays of the 1930s, in the Christian poems of the 1940s, in the meditative work of the 1950s, in the domestic poems of the 1960s, in the reflective poems of his final years. In this symposium the poet and critic Alan Bold introduces various views of Auden: William Logan writes on Auden's imagery; Janet Montefiore on Auden and traditional fairy-tale material; Margaret Moan Rowe on Auden as playwright; Donald Pearce on Auden at Michigan; Walter Perrie on Auden's political vision; A. S. Crehan on Auden's prose; Richard Johnson on Auden's love poetry; Charles Osborne on Auden as Christian poet; and Robert Giddings on Auden and opera. -- From publisher's description.

Also issued online.

SACFinal081324