Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause?
This article focuses on the last chapter of W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice’s 1937 travel narrative: Letters from Iceland, written entirely in terza rima and entitled “Their Last Will and Testament”. A humorous parody of a legal document, the 23-page-long poem consists of an inventory of miscellaneous...
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Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherche sur le Monde Anglophone
2015
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.4379 http://journals.openedition.org/erea/4379 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:10.4000/erea.4379 2023-05-15T16:48:04+02:00 Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause? GREAVES, Sara R. 2015-06-14 https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.4379 http://journals.openedition.org/erea/4379 en eng Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherche sur le Monde Anglophone E-rea urn:doi:10.4000/erea.4379 doi:10.4000/erea.4379 http://journals.openedition.org/erea/4379 other E-rea littérature du voyage burlesque les années trente angoisse existentielle terza rima Dante exil quête poétique travel literature the Thirties existential Angst exile poetic quest relig litt Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2015 fttriple https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.4379 2023-01-22T16:47:15Z This article focuses on the last chapter of W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice’s 1937 travel narrative: Letters from Iceland, written entirely in terza rima and entitled “Their Last Will and Testament”. A humorous parody of a legal document, the 23-page-long poem consists of an inventory of miscellaneous bequests and their legatees, some of whom are prominent figures of the British establishment, considered against the sombre backdrop of the mounting threat of Nazism. The second part of the article deals more specifically with Auden, and the text is discussed in relation to Auden’s poetry as a whole as a rewriting of Dante’s Inferno, including his system of ‘contrapasso’ in the treatment of sinners, thereby shedding light on the poet’s quest for a language of (spiritual) healing. While the Iceland trip was an opportunity for Auden and MacNeice to remove themselves physically from the European theatre and observe it from outside, it also brought a near-the-bone reminder of what seemed to be already lost in terms of English poetry’s audience and role, and an experience of exile and alienation. Cet article s’intéresse au récit de voyage de W.H. Auden et Louis MacNeice Letters from Iceland (1937), en particulier au dernier chapitre en terza rima intitulé : « W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament. » Parodie comique d’un document juridique, ce poème, d’une longueur de 23 pages, consiste en l’inventaire de divers legs et de leurs légataires, dont certains sont des représentants connus de l’establishment britannique, avec en toile de fond la menace sombre du nazisme. La deuxième partie de l’article traite plus particulièrement d’Auden et situe le texte dans son œuvre tout entière comme une réécriture de l’Inferno de Dante, sans oublier le système de « contrapasso » mis en place dans le traitement des pécheurs, mettant ainsi en lumière la quête poétique pour un langage de guérison (spirituelle). Alors que le voyage en Islande permit aux deux poètes, Auden et MacNeice, de s’éloigner physiquement du ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Islande Unknown Rima ENVELOPE(-45.400,-45.400,-60.633,-60.633) E-rea 12.2 |
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English |
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littérature du voyage burlesque les années trente angoisse existentielle terza rima Dante exil quête poétique travel literature the Thirties existential Angst exile poetic quest relig litt |
spellingShingle |
littérature du voyage burlesque les années trente angoisse existentielle terza rima Dante exil quête poétique travel literature the Thirties existential Angst exile poetic quest relig litt GREAVES, Sara R. Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause? |
topic_facet |
littérature du voyage burlesque les années trente angoisse existentielle terza rima Dante exil quête poétique travel literature the Thirties existential Angst exile poetic quest relig litt |
description |
This article focuses on the last chapter of W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice’s 1937 travel narrative: Letters from Iceland, written entirely in terza rima and entitled “Their Last Will and Testament”. A humorous parody of a legal document, the 23-page-long poem consists of an inventory of miscellaneous bequests and their legatees, some of whom are prominent figures of the British establishment, considered against the sombre backdrop of the mounting threat of Nazism. The second part of the article deals more specifically with Auden, and the text is discussed in relation to Auden’s poetry as a whole as a rewriting of Dante’s Inferno, including his system of ‘contrapasso’ in the treatment of sinners, thereby shedding light on the poet’s quest for a language of (spiritual) healing. While the Iceland trip was an opportunity for Auden and MacNeice to remove themselves physically from the European theatre and observe it from outside, it also brought a near-the-bone reminder of what seemed to be already lost in terms of English poetry’s audience and role, and an experience of exile and alienation. Cet article s’intéresse au récit de voyage de W.H. Auden et Louis MacNeice Letters from Iceland (1937), en particulier au dernier chapitre en terza rima intitulé : « W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament. » Parodie comique d’un document juridique, ce poème, d’une longueur de 23 pages, consiste en l’inventaire de divers legs et de leurs légataires, dont certains sont des représentants connus de l’establishment britannique, avec en toile de fond la menace sombre du nazisme. La deuxième partie de l’article traite plus particulièrement d’Auden et situe le texte dans son œuvre tout entière comme une réécriture de l’Inferno de Dante, sans oublier le système de « contrapasso » mis en place dans le traitement des pécheurs, mettant ainsi en lumière la quête poétique pour un langage de guérison (spirituelle). Alors que le voyage en Islande permit aux deux poètes, Auden et MacNeice, de s’éloigner physiquement du ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
GREAVES, Sara R. |
author_facet |
GREAVES, Sara R. |
author_sort |
GREAVES, Sara R. |
title |
Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause? |
title_short |
Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause? |
title_full |
Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause? |
title_fullStr |
Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Auden and MacNeice: Their Last Will and Testament – Thirties Classic or Existential Pause? |
title_sort |
auden and macneice: their last will and testament – thirties classic or existential pause? |
publisher |
Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherche sur le Monde Anglophone |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.4379 http://journals.openedition.org/erea/4379 |
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ENVELOPE(-45.400,-45.400,-60.633,-60.633) |
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Rima |
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Rima |
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Iceland Islande |
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Iceland Islande |
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E-rea |
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urn:doi:10.4000/erea.4379 doi:10.4000/erea.4379 http://journals.openedition.org/erea/4379 |
op_rights |
other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.4000/erea.4379 |
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E-rea |
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12.2 |
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1766038198203449344 |