Born in York, England, in 1907, Wystan Hugh Auden was the son of a physician and the grandson of two clergymen. He first attended St. Edmund's School in Surrey, then at thirteen went to Gresham's School in Norfolk. In 1922, his close friend Robert Medley was the first to suggest to Auden that he ought to write poetry. The young poet's first poems would appear in a school magazine in 1923.

Later he went to Christ Church, Oxford, on a biology scholarship, but soon switched to English. Auden would eventually leave Oxford in 1928 with a third-class degree.

While at Oxford, the talented young poet formed friendships with Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood, relationships that would last a lifetime. With Isherwood Auden had an intermittent sexual relationship though both men also had relationships with others.

Auden traveled extensively, visiting Germany, Iceland, and China, and then in 1939 moved to the United States. There he met another lover, Chester Kallman, and eventually became an American citizen.

Auden was truly prolific writer who also authored essays and plays. He also served as librettist and at times an editor and essayist. As a young poet, he was influenced by the poetry of Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost, William Blake, and Emily Dickinson. His first published collection of poems came in 1928, though that first collection was the result of private printing. In 1930, his first commercial publication appeared and with it Auden became one of the leading voices of a new generation of poets.

Auden had the ability to write poetry in virtually every verse form. He sought to include popular culture and current events into his various forms. His vast intellect allowed him to draw from literature as well as social and political issues. Auden was known for his wit and at times even imitated the writing style of Dickinson, Henry James and W. B. Yeats.

During his lifetime, Auden wrote approximately four hundred poems and was the author of more than four hundred essays and reviews in many subject areas. In his later years, Auden divided his life between two residences, one in New York City and a second in Austria.

Auden died in Vienna in 1973.

The Unknown Citizen
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in a hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Installment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a Frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.