After reading this poem I've realized how World War II had an extraordinary impact in people's lives. Moreover, the author utilized the correct words to express exactly the depression's feelings society had. He described the damage that the war causes, not only physical, but in a psychological aspect. Auden had no problem to represent how people were feeling, due to in a way, he was part of the system, the war system.
I believe that this half part of the first stanza represents exactly how people felt;
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
Here, it is clearly represented how society felt; anger and fear because of this unfair war. Even though they were in calm and not doing any damage to the contrary side (Germany and allied), the darkness of their acts had negative consequences in innocent people. Individuals tried to live their lives normally during the day, going to work, sharing with others, being with their families, but in the night, when they had to go to their houses, was the moment when the bad aspects like fears, desperation, death and weepings raised. They could not scape from the war, because it was in people's mind, dreams and life.
As a sum of all the aspects, I believe Auden tried to imprint all his feelings in this poems. Maybe, he never thought that this enriching piece of work could bring so many controversial issues to nowadays' life. I really enjoyed reading and understanding it. There is no doubt I will use it in an EFL lesson.
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