Linking here to a great article in 2001 by Peter Steinfels at the New York Times, discussing the renewed popularity of W.H. Auden’s “September 1, 1939” after 9/11.
I knew the poem was controversial, and that it arguably could have been quoted out of context, as it references the events preceding World War II. But I had no idea how controversial. I can’t believe the famous piece was later so “loathed” by Auden himself.
Here is a link to the poem itself, at the website of Academy of American Poets:
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 