W. H. Auden’s Left-Wing Political Thinking and Its Impact on His Early Poetry

Auden’s political thinking was rooted in the turbulent times of the 1930s. He chose to stand with the proletariat and paid attention to social realities. Marxism helped him better understand the background and causes of social problems, and find ways to diagnose and treat social ills. Under the influence of these left-wing political thoughts, Auden’s poetry showed criticism of the bourgeoisie, exploration of social issues, and a call for social change and struggle in terms of its content. In terms of the form of his poetic creation, this stance was manifested through what Auden termed “the hawk’s vision” and highly radical wording.