My reaction to this poem was that it was jarring for three reasons. It was jarring in that it seemed to contradict itself. Second, the rhyme scheme was regular in some parts and seemed irregular in others due to the fact that it kept changing. The rhythm of the poem was also jarring because it went along smoothly in sections then seemed to break up especially in the longer lines.
First, the poem established the conformity to society in the first five lines then hints at rebellion with “Except for the War” in line 6. Later, in line 24, it states, “when there was war, he went.” There is no easy way to reconcile these two except to look at Auden’s life. Carpenter (1981) tells us that when Auden left England for America in early 1939, he was viewed as a traitor since Europe was heading to war and Auden had previously spent time in Germany and had married a German woman.
In contrast, Carpenter (1981) also reports that Auden went to Spain in 1937 with the intent of driving an ambulance for the Republic and also to China in 1938 to cover the war with Japan. Later, when war was declared between England and Germany he reported to the British embassy, but was told that he was not needed at his age. He was drafted by the United States in 1942 but was medically rejected. These experiences can explain the apparent contradiction between line 6 and line 24. Apparently Auden had seen enough of war in his experiences in Spain and China, but his citizen needed to conform to society.
The poem also seems to give contradictory feelings of both mindless conformity and living a full life. The poem marches along with numerous examples of conformity with the implication of a lack of spirit, a boring life and certainly no rebellion against the system. But as Taylor (2012) points out “Citizen possesses an embarrassment of social riches.” People work hard to attain the possessions, family and friends that the Unknown Citizen possesses. This life style is in stark contrast to the days of child labor, work houses and the widespread poverty of Victorian England described by Dickens and Jack London. Those times were faded in Auden’s early years but still within the memory of the adults around him. He also saw the tragedy of World War I. Certainly Citizen had a better life than those experiences.
Auden asks, “Was he free? Was he happy?” with the clear satirical and ironic implications that the Unknown Citizen could not have been happy living such a conformist life. He could not have been free since he conformed in every way to the expectations of society (Kim, 2013). But there is no direct insight to what the citizen actually felt except that he had friends and liked to have a drink. Of course Auden convinces us that the bureaucratic reporting of the life of the Citizen can give us no direct insight, so we don’t know if Citizen was unhappy or happy in his life.
The other jarring aspects of the poem are not apparent until it is read aloud. The first stanza seems a simple ABAB, but is followed by another A in line 5. Then it seems to settle down with two rhyming lines then line 8 ends with “Inc.” The rhyme for that is in line 13 which seems a long way to go for a rhyme. He also makes rhymes with the last line of one stanza and the first line of the next as in 2/3, 3/4 and 4/5. This threw me off when reading the poem the first time.
Numerous blogs and websites, e.g, Shmoop Editorial Team, state that the basic rhythm is anapest at least at the beginning. It marches along in a conforming rhythm for two stanzas giving the feeling of conformity that supports the words. Then the third stanza has some deviations, and deviations are particularly noticeable in later stanzas that have longer lines as in line 24 which seems to be a stronger, more emotional line than the rest of the poem.
In summary, the poem at first seems like a straight forward criticism of modern life done with satire that is clearly shown. However, Auden breaks things up with a possible contradiction about the citizen’s military record and with a description of a life that many would see and full and productive. It is a life that Auden did not live (Carpenter, 1981) and probably would not have wanted, so he did not appreciate it. This effect is supported by the rhyme and rhythm that are generally regular but are varied at several points. This all gives an uneasy feeling about the commitment to the main idea of the poem.
Works Cited
Carpenter, H. (1981).W. H. Auden: A biography. London: George Allen &
Unwin Ltd.
Kim, Y.S., (2013) Irony in W. H. Auden's Poem “The Unknown Citizen.”
HubPages .com. Retrieved from http://yoonsikkim.hubpages.com/hub/irony_Auden_unknown_citizen
Shmoop Editorial Board, (2014). “The Unknown Citizen.” Shmoop.com. Shmoop
http://www.shmoop.com/unknown-citizen/rhyme-form-meter.html
Taylor, M. (Fall 2012) Not with a Bang but a Whimper: Muen Shakai and Its
Implications. Anthropoetics 18, (1). Retrieved from
http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap1801/1801taylor.htm
