The Unknown citizen By W.H. Auden Starting with the title one gets the feeling of anonymity; that is he was just one in many. It is a play on "The unknown soldier". It is obvious that this is in fact a report and the dedication "To JS/07/M/378" further proves the idea of no individuality. W.H. Auden had become the unofficial poet laurite of his time, and although the poet laurite is known …
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showed last 75 words of 596 total
…is never finished, it is abandoned". This was written in Auden's politically left period. I feel that this poem is a very scary one. The closing line is sure to stick with you; "Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard". This engraves further the idea of the government; they always watching, knowing. One might almost say that it is a pre cursor to the Orwellian idea of the state controlling you. Mikiel Calleja