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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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W.H. Auden
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(Wystan Hugh Auden, 1907–73) English-born poet who from his first published collection (Poems 1930) was seen as the leading figure of the generation after T.S. Eliot. His early work, much influenced by Anglo-Saxon *alliteration, gave way to a period of strongly political verse during the 1930s. He also wrote political drama in collaboration with Christopher *Isherwood, beginning with The Dog Beneath the Skin in 1935.
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In 1939 both Isherwood and Auden emigrated to the USA (they became US citizens in 1946). Auden's poetry now became more religious (his family background had been devoutly Anglo-Catholic) and he reissued some of his political poetry in a revised form, arguing that the changes were to do with quality rather than content. His output had always been very varied, with a constantly teasing mix of solemnity and lightness. It was now extended to include opera libretti, such as the text for Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress (1951). This, like several other works of that time, was written in collaboration with the US poet Chester Kallmann, Auden's companion for the last 30 years of his life.
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