W. H. Auden, Look, Stranger!

Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication Oct 1936

Places

England (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection

Resources

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Look, Stranger!

(October 1936) was W. H. Auden’s second collection of shorter poems. Its American edition (

On This Island

, February 1937) appeared with minor corrections under the title preferred by Auden to the one imposed -- from the opening phrase of its fifth poem -- by his London publisher, Faber & Faber, during his absence in Iceland. Following his earlier

Poems

(1930; revd. 1933) and the unclassifiable verse-prose medley

The Orators

(1932),

Look, Stranger!

confirmed Auden’s eminence as the outstanding English poet of his generation, winning him the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry. Barbara Everett in her critical study

Auden

(1964) described

Look, Stranger!

as “probably the most accomplished single volume that Auden has so far produced” (Everett, 38). A. T. Tolley in his book

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2076 words

Citation: Baldick, Chris. "Look, Stranger!". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 October 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35821, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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W. H. Auden, Look, Stranger!

Dates

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