On This Island
On This Islandis a book of poems byW. H. Auden,first published under the titleLook, Stranger!in the UK in 1936, then published under Auden's preferred title,On this Island,in the US in 1937. It is also the title of one of the poems in the collection.
The book contains thirty-one poems. The opening "Prologue" ( "O Love the interest itself in thoughtless heaven" ) is followed by short and long poems including "Hearing of harvests", "O what is that sound", "Out on the lawn", "Brothers who when the sirens roar", "Love had him fast", "A shilling life", "Our hunting fathers", and others, ending with an "Epilogue" ( "Certainly our city" ).
Originally, Auden had given it the preliminary titleThirty-One Poems.Auden's UK publisher,Faber & Faberasked him to supply a better title since neither of them liked it. However, since he was traveling inIcelandand was inaccessible, the publisher titled the bookLook, Stranger!Auden disliked the title and asked his American publisher,Random Houseto title the bookOn This Island.[1]
The book is dedicated toErika Mann.
A song cycle of the same name byBenjamin Brittensets five of Auden's poems.
References
[edit]- ^"Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-73) - Look, stranger!: poems / by W.H. Auden".www.rct.uk.Retrieved10 January2024.
- John Fuller,W. H. Auden: A Commentary(1999).
- Edward Mendelson,Early Auden(1981).
