"Turning and Turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.".The verse above indeed reflects the vision of 1930's.A world that believes not in making but in breaking the social integration and social ethos.It was the age of Darwin, the age of Industry and the age primarily of Reason.Religion hereof brings no solace as it is just a mere embodiment of "the dead tree that gives no shelter".Similarly, the rapid transgression to industrialization had efficiently transformed Men to Machines.Men, here as labourers evolve as commodified objects attached with an "exchange value".It was the world where nothing is measured beyond the material; the human relationship that use to give man a reason to live for was a "heap of broken images".Above all, thanks to the great minds and their virtue of rationis capax , for making men the maker of atom bombs.Now you call this progress or not- well the question pertains.Assuming it to be so - the elements that came out of Pandora's box along with the so called progression, were the negative emotions like guilt, faithlessness, dilemma and distrust, contributing in conditioning the helplessness in men.Auden very much a product of his age envisioned this pattern of life and living.Yet, hope floats.For Auden it was this hope that drew him to the quest for fulfilment - replicated through the reconciliation between the 'falcon' and the 'falconer', thus aiming to install life with a sense of shape and significance.To circumscribe an order out of disorder, meaning out of meaninglessness, was the change that the poets of thirties desired to bring.Auden was no exception.In his formative years he faced this destabilization and degeneration overshadowed from two directions, the war past and the war ever more likely to come.No longer did the world impart the flavour of joie de vivre instead living had just become a mere act of desperation.Thus to alter this condition change was inevitable.As Auden formulates."Coming out of me living is always thinking Thinking changing and changing living.".The poet believes that the whole process of transformation requires primary understanding.Thereof like a "helmeted airman" he desires to observe the world in and around.On a closer view of his life, we find that for this change he clings onto several remedial ideological beliefs resting on the significance of the Mind, the Material and the Majesty.The thesis replicating the existing social order collides with the antithesis highlighting change, leading to a peaceful synthesis - in making this world a better place to live in.Delving into the early years of Auden's poetry in Britain, we find the profound influence of the Freudian psychoanalysis and the Marxist socialism.Auden's primary rebellion seems to have been in the area of the personal life rather than social.The flaneur objectively observing could actually dissect the social and spiritual problems underlying in the society.Be it the 'intolerable neural itch' implied by the neurotic patterns of behaviour or the 'rehearsed response' that leads to repression, was superimposed by the society.Auden believed in our natural instinct as our true self.Thus the recognition of the uncontrollable forces of the Id and its dominance curbs the human notion of 'free will'.The very idea of pre determination is analogous to the Marxist notion of the self being determined by the forces of history and economics.The whole formulation by the poet reflecting the predominance of some supra human power over man, actually undermines the representation of then significant rationality.In a tribute to Frued on his death he concludes.."One rational voice is dumb.Over his grave The household of impulse mourns one deeply loved;".For the poet the true sense of judgment implied through rationality lies in understanding the predominance of our instinctive mind.The Fruedian concept thereof highlighting the significance of heart, promotes understanding, tolerance, charity thereby marking a distinctive change from the existing modules of belief.The very dictum of change is 'essentially' a Marxist phenomenon, that revolution will lead to a form of evolution derive from a similar pattern of thought.To alter the diseased time that it was, the poet prescribes a medication to "publish each healer that in city lives" as a mode of improvement, as a source of change.This appeal on counter revolution insist not on blood, chaos, destruction and suffering instead focused upon love, replicated through a "change at heart".The Audenesque transformation involves "a storm clearing the air for renewing the soil".The notion of commodification, materialism and alienation in mankind is spelled throughout his verses.Be it the 'cigarette-end', 'reserved tables' or 'in furs', 'in uniform', this part for whole technique actually signifies the commodities in recognition and man in alienation.The young Auden was anxious to alternate, thus instigating the reader to rethink the current condition.In the poem "O where are you going".He imparts the 'rider' the 'Farer' and the 'Horror' a significantly social role of leading the way, in order to search new implications to life.This phase thus reflects his belief more in action of the 'rider' than the intellectual 'reader' in contemplation.Auden insisting his influence upon Freud, Marx and Kierkegaard was not simple re utterance of their political and theological doctrine, instead his poetical works always reverberated a voice originally of his own.These doctrines served as a mirror that would reflect his poetic line of thought.In actuality how much Auden is concerned with the questions of surplus value, methods of production and distribution of profits is not validated.The transformation that one marks in the course of his lifetime is a sign of graver understanding, reflecting the journey of life - from the realm of innocence to experience.As the poet reportedly had said "my poetry does not change from place to place" , "it changes with years".The means of switching from one line of thought to another was intended to investigate the idea of the ideal.Consequentially it lead to questioning the whole notion of truth, lying beneath his existing philosophy and belief -."What do you think of England, This country of ours where no ones well?".The question constantly pervades, but the answer lay deferred and this deference leads to disillusionment.A disillusionment emphasizing the realization that the Hobbesean man is ruled by nothing but self interest, and characterized by the essentialities of being solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."Everything necessary to a modern Man" was a concomitance of "A phonograph, radio, a car and a frigidaire" reflect this "low dishonest decade".It was then that we mark Auden's recluse to religion, in and around 1940's.This period also envisions a physical shift from Britain to America, representing the land of new opportunities.No longer did Auden exploited these opportunities in thrusting his beliefs in the material man making magic.Instead desired to remake his own self with complete faith in God, playing an active role.The transcendental realisation that "the world is the other me" made him believe that the rectification of the internal being is important, as it is the individuals who maketh a society.This distilled society is not dictated by the "Bureau of statistics" or the "Producers Research" instead it was time to look into the self and ask "absurd questions" - "Was he free? Was he happy?".Here does the theological principles of Kierkegaard comes to action.The angst that denotes our existence actually exemplifies our living -."We are created from and with the world To suffer with and from it day by day.".Rebellion thus fails to provide a solution, as implied by Camus it proves nothing but a "perpetual confrontation of man and his own insignificance".Our insignificance lies in the preordained web our lives are structured into.Virtue thereof lies in accepting the will of God and submitting in the act of blind faith.Hereby granting him peace by refilling his mind with the "sea of faith" which guided Auden, "back to belief".I would now like to conclude with a question, that all the major influence of Auden seems to subscribe human destiny as priorly designed, so where does the quest for fulfilment lead us onto? I feel that the answer lies in the very concept of the quest - primarily signifying a mode of engagement to sustain in this bleak universe.Secondly, this quest is essentially individual and an attempt of transformation is marked from making a 'new society' to a 'new man'.It also underlines the factor that man is in a position of becoming, here does the notions of human choices comes onto.Choices structured within the binaries of the rational and the instinctive, the good and the evil, the nature and nurture, the political and the theology.Auden explores them all.This optimist poet replicates the modern Ulysses in search of a meaning, in search of that 'untravelled world'.At the end of all the poet does find solace in understanding and accepting.Understanding not estimated by reason but realisation.A realisation transcribing not to the material, but the transcendental.A vision exemplified in a form of an 'intuition' or drishti .Auden thereof subscribes a new mantra of life and living ---."Datta, dayadhvam, damyata Shantih Shantih shantih".
Friday, June 22, 2012
Auden's Quest For Fulfillment - A Journey From the Earthly to the Ethereal
"Turning and Turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.".The verse above indeed reflects the vision of 1930's.A world that believes not in making but in breaking the social integration and social ethos.It was the age of Darwin, the age of Industry and the age primarily of Reason.Religion hereof brings no solace as it is just a mere embodiment of "the dead tree that gives no shelter".Similarly, the rapid transgression to industrialization had efficiently transformed Men to Machines.Men, here as labourers evolve as commodified objects attached with an "exchange value".It was the world where nothing is measured beyond the material; the human relationship that use to give man a reason to live for was a "heap of broken images".Above all, thanks to the great minds and their virtue of rationis capax , for making men the maker of atom bombs.Now you call this progress or not- well the question pertains.Assuming it to be so - the elements that came out of Pandora's box along with the so called progression, were the negative emotions like guilt, faithlessness, dilemma and distrust, contributing in conditioning the helplessness in men.Auden very much a product of his age envisioned this pattern of life and living.Yet, hope floats.For Auden it was this hope that drew him to the quest for fulfilment - replicated through the reconciliation between the 'falcon' and the 'falconer', thus aiming to install life with a sense of shape and significance.To circumscribe an order out of disorder, meaning out of meaninglessness, was the change that the poets of thirties desired to bring.Auden was no exception.In his formative years he faced this destabilization and degeneration overshadowed from two directions, the war past and the war ever more likely to come.No longer did the world impart the flavour of joie de vivre instead living had just become a mere act of desperation.Thus to alter this condition change was inevitable.As Auden formulates."Coming out of me living is always thinking Thinking changing and changing living.".The poet believes that the whole process of transformation requires primary understanding.Thereof like a "helmeted airman" he desires to observe the world in and around.On a closer view of his life, we find that for this change he clings onto several remedial ideological beliefs resting on the significance of the Mind, the Material and the Majesty.The thesis replicating the existing social order collides with the antithesis highlighting change, leading to a peaceful synthesis - in making this world a better place to live in.Delving into the early years of Auden's poetry in Britain, we find the profound influence of the Freudian psychoanalysis and the Marxist socialism.Auden's primary rebellion seems to have been in the area of the personal life rather than social.The flaneur objectively observing could actually dissect the social and spiritual problems underlying in the society.Be it the 'intolerable neural itch' implied by the neurotic patterns of behaviour or the 'rehearsed response' that leads to repression, was superimposed by the society.Auden believed in our natural instinct as our true self.Thus the recognition of the uncontrollable forces of the Id and its dominance curbs the human notion of 'free will'.The very idea of pre determination is analogous to the Marxist notion of the self being determined by the forces of history and economics.The whole formulation by the poet reflecting the predominance of some supra human power over man, actually undermines the representation of then significant rationality.In a tribute to Frued on his death he concludes.."One rational voice is dumb.Over his grave The household of impulse mourns one deeply loved;".For the poet the true sense of judgment implied through rationality lies in understanding the predominance of our instinctive mind.The Fruedian concept thereof highlighting the significance of heart, promotes understanding, tolerance, charity thereby marking a distinctive change from the existing modules of belief.The very dictum of change is 'essentially' a Marxist phenomenon, that revolution will lead to a form of evolution derive from a similar pattern of thought.To alter the diseased time that it was, the poet prescribes a medication to "publish each healer that in city lives" as a mode of improvement, as a source of change.This appeal on counter revolution insist not on blood, chaos, destruction and suffering instead focused upon love, replicated through a "change at heart".The Audenesque transformation involves "a storm clearing the air for renewing the soil".The notion of commodification, materialism and alienation in mankind is spelled throughout his verses.Be it the 'cigarette-end', 'reserved tables' or 'in furs', 'in uniform', this part for whole technique actually signifies the commodities in recognition and man in alienation.The young Auden was anxious to alternate, thus instigating the reader to rethink the current condition.In the poem "O where are you going".He imparts the 'rider' the 'Farer' and the 'Horror' a significantly social role of leading the way, in order to search new implications to life.This phase thus reflects his belief more in action of the 'rider' than the intellectual 'reader' in contemplation.Auden insisting his influence upon Freud, Marx and Kierkegaard was not simple re utterance of their political and theological doctrine, instead his poetical works always reverberated a voice originally of his own.These doctrines served as a mirror that would reflect his poetic line of thought.In actuality how much Auden is concerned with the questions of surplus value, methods of production and distribution of profits is not validated.The transformation that one marks in the course of his lifetime is a sign of graver understanding, reflecting the journey of life - from the realm of innocence to experience.As the poet reportedly had said "my poetry does not change from place to place" , "it changes with years".The means of switching from one line of thought to another was intended to investigate the idea of the ideal.Consequentially it lead to questioning the whole notion of truth, lying beneath his existing philosophy and belief -."What do you think of England, This country of ours where no ones well?".The question constantly pervades, but the answer lay deferred and this deference leads to disillusionment.A disillusionment emphasizing the realization that the Hobbesean man is ruled by nothing but self interest, and characterized by the essentialities of being solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."Everything necessary to a modern Man" was a concomitance of "A phonograph, radio, a car and a frigidaire" reflect this "low dishonest decade".It was then that we mark Auden's recluse to religion, in and around 1940's.This period also envisions a physical shift from Britain to America, representing the land of new opportunities.No longer did Auden exploited these opportunities in thrusting his beliefs in the material man making magic.Instead desired to remake his own self with complete faith in God, playing an active role.The transcendental realisation that "the world is the other me" made him believe that the rectification of the internal being is important, as it is the individuals who maketh a society.This distilled society is not dictated by the "Bureau of statistics" or the "Producers Research" instead it was time to look into the self and ask "absurd questions" - "Was he free? Was he happy?".Here does the theological principles of Kierkegaard comes to action.The angst that denotes our existence actually exemplifies our living -."We are created from and with the world To suffer with and from it day by day.".Rebellion thus fails to provide a solution, as implied by Camus it proves nothing but a "perpetual confrontation of man and his own insignificance".Our insignificance lies in the preordained web our lives are structured into.Virtue thereof lies in accepting the will of God and submitting in the act of blind faith.Hereby granting him peace by refilling his mind with the "sea of faith" which guided Auden, "back to belief".I would now like to conclude with a question, that all the major influence of Auden seems to subscribe human destiny as priorly designed, so where does the quest for fulfilment lead us onto? I feel that the answer lies in the very concept of the quest - primarily signifying a mode of engagement to sustain in this bleak universe.Secondly, this quest is essentially individual and an attempt of transformation is marked from making a 'new society' to a 'new man'.It also underlines the factor that man is in a position of becoming, here does the notions of human choices comes onto.Choices structured within the binaries of the rational and the instinctive, the good and the evil, the nature and nurture, the political and the theology.Auden explores them all.This optimist poet replicates the modern Ulysses in search of a meaning, in search of that 'untravelled world'.At the end of all the poet does find solace in understanding and accepting.Understanding not estimated by reason but realisation.A realisation transcribing not to the material, but the transcendental.A vision exemplified in a form of an 'intuition' or drishti .Auden thereof subscribes a new mantra of life and living ---."Datta, dayadhvam, damyata Shantih Shantih shantih".
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