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ABSTRACT Augustinian Auden: the Influence of Augustine of Hippo on W. H. Auden Stephen J. Schuler, Ph.D. Mentor: Richard Rankin

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ABSTRACT Augustinian Auden: the Influence of Augustine of Hippo on W. H. Auden Stephen J. Schuler, Ph.D. Mentor: Richard Rankin ABSTRACT Augustinian Auden: The Influence of Augustine of Hippo on W. H. Auden Stephen J. Schuler, Ph.D. Mentor: Richard Rankin Russell, Ph.D. It is widely acknowledged that W. H. Auden became a Christian in about 1940, but relatively little critical attention has been paid to Auden‟s theology, much less to the particular theological sources of Auden‟s faith. Auden read widely in theology, and one of his earliest and most important theological influences on his poetry and prose is Saint Augustine of Hippo. This dissertation explains the Augustinian origin of several crucial but often misunderstood features of Auden‟s work. They are, briefly, the nature of evil as privation of good; the affirmation of all existence, and especially the physical world and the human body, as intrinsically good; the difficult aspiration to the fusion of eros and agape in the concept of Christian charity; and the status of poetry as subject to both aesthetic and moral criteria. Auden had already been attracted to similar ideas in Lawrence, Blake, Freud, and Marx, but those thinkers‟ common insistence on the importance of physical existence took on new significance with Auden‟s acceptance of the Incarnation as an historical reality. For both Auden and Augustine, the Incarnation was proof that the physical world is redeemable. Auden recognized that if neither the physical world nor the human body are intrinsically evil, then the physical desires of the body, such as eros, the self-interested survival instinct, cannot in themselves be intrinsically evil. The conflict between eros and agape, or altruistic love, is not a Manichean struggle of darkness against light, but a struggle for appropriate placement in a hierarchy of values, and Auden derived several ideas about Christian charity from Augustine. Augustine‟s influence was largely conscious on Auden‟s part, though it was often indirect as well. Auden absorbed important Augustinian ideas through modern sources such as Charles Williams, Charles Norris Cochrane, and Denis de Rougemont, although he was himself an observant and incisive reader of Augustine‟s major works, especially the Confessions. This dissertation demonstrates that the works and ideas of Augustine are a deep and significant influence on Auden‟s prose and poetry, and especially on his long poems. Augustinian Auden: The Influence of Augustine of Hippo on W. H. Auden by Stephen J. Schuler, B.A. A Dissertation Approved by the Department of English ___________________________________ Dianna M. Vitanza, Ph.D., Interim Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by the Dissertation Committee ___________________________________ Richard Rankin Russell, Ph.D., Chairperson ___________________________________ David Lyle Jeffrey, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Michael P. Foley, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Luke Ferretter, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Kevin J. Gardner, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School August 2008 ___________________________________ J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Page bearing original signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School. Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Schuler All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations v Preface vi Acknowledgments viii Dedication xii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Biography 5 Methodology 11 The Argument 18 Chapter 2: Evil as Privation (I) 20 Augustine and the Problem of Evil 21 “The Prolific and the Devourer” 28 “New Year Letter” 42 Chapter 3: Evil as Privation (II) 88 “For the Time Being” 92 “The Sea and the Mirror” 100 Later Poems 110 Chapter 4: Existence as Good (I) 115 Augustine and Charles Norris Cochrane 118 “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” and “Herman Melville” 127 “For the Time Being” 135 “The Sea and the Mirror” 149 iii Chapter 5: Existence as Good (II) 157 “Horae Canonicae” 158 “Precious Five” and “Memorial for the City” 174 “Thanksgiving for a Habitat” and Later Poems 184 Resurrection 192 Conclusion 198 Chapter 6: Eros Rescued by Agape 201 Ambiguities of Love in the 1930s 206 Self-Assessment and Self-Implication in the Late 1930s 223 Denis de Rougemont and Christian Marriage, 1939-1941 230 Chapter 7: Eros Playing Hard-to-Get 255 “L’affaire C”: The Early 1940s 258 After “L’affaire C”: Self-Conscious Manichaeism 270 After “L’affaire C”: Aspirations to Agape 279 Chapter 8: Poetry and Truth 299 The Gratuitous Act 302 “The Prostitution of Mind to Its Own Fancies” 311 The Conclusion of the Matter 320 Epilogue 325 Works Cited 326 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS C: Augustine, The Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick CG: Augustine, The City of God CP: Auden, Collected Poems of W. H. Auden DH: Auden, The Dyer’s Hand EA: Mendelson, Early Auden EF: Auden, The Enchafèd Flood FA: Auden, Forewords and Afterwords MCP: Auden‟s untitled essay in Modern Canterbury Pilgrims, Ed. James A. Pike LA: Mendelson, Later Auden NYL: Auden, New Year Letter OCD: Augustine, On Christian Doctrine OED: The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Prose I: Auden, The Complete Works of W. H. Auden: Prose. vol. 1 Prose II: Auden, The Complete Works of W. H. Auden: Prose. vol. 2 Prose III: Auden, The Complete Works of W. H. Auden: Prose. vol. 3 TEA: Auden, The English Auden Tribute: Spender, ed. W. H. Auden: A Tribute v PREFACE This dissertation argues that W. H. Auden was significantly influenced by the work and thought of Saint Augustine of Hippo, especially in the poetry and prose that Auden wrote after he began his return to Christianity in the late 1930s. Because this is a study of influence, it will be necessary to first spend some time outlining particular aspects of Augustine‟s theology before I can identify those ideas in Auden‟s works, but as the work progresses, my discussions of Augustine‟s thought will become more concise. Also, because Augustine‟s influence does not appear in equal measure in all parts of Auden‟s corpus, I have focused mainly on those works whose content most strongly reveals Augustinian ideas, particularly Auden‟s long poems of the 1940s. Throughout the process of writing this work, I have become convinced that a recognition of certain key Augustinian ideas in a few of Auden‟s works enables a reader to better understand Auden‟s other works. Among these key works are “The Prolific and the Devourer,” “New Year Letter,” “For the Time Being,” “The Sea and the Mirror,” The Dyer’s Hand, and “Horae Canonicae.” It is to these works that this dissertation repeatedly turns, first to find the influence of Augustine, but also for guidance in seeking to elucidate Auden‟s reliance on Augustine in his other works. Also, I should here explain my approach to certain technical matters in use of sources. First, in referring to the works of both Auden and Augustine, I will give the title that will be most familiar to readers (e.g. The City of God rather than Concerning the City of God against the Pagans). Since the MLA no longer requires square brackets around ellipses within quotations, I have omitted them; when an ellipsis appears within a vi quotation, the reader may assume that material has been omitted from the quotation for purposes of clarity and brevity. Also, Auden frequently used italics in his works, so unless otherwise noted, all italics within quotations are original to the source. Finally, both Auden and Augustine are clear writers on the whole, so where possible I prefer to quote them rather than summarize them. If in quoting I have erred on the side of copiousness, it is because I wish to let the authors speak for themselves. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The first word of gratitude belongs to Ron Raber, until recently professor of English at Grace College in Winona Lake, IN, to whom this work is dedicated, for it was he who convinced me that I could earn a graduate degree and who taught Modernist literature to me with an energy whose equal I have never found. I am perpetually grateful to Professor Raber for writing on the first essay that I submitted to him, “Make sure that every paragraph, every sentence, every clause, every phrase, and every word is absolutely necessary to PROVE YOUR THESIS!” I hope that this project will please him despite my frequent neglect of his sound advice. This project has advanced under the guidance of an encouraging and sympathetic dissertation committee. Throughout the process I have had the benefit of the wise and capable instruction of my director, Dr. Richard Russell, who has carefully read my drafts and offered innumerable criticisms and suggestions for improvement, almost all of which I have incorporated into the finished product. Since I took his seminar on Joyce and Yeats during my first year of graduate studies, Dr. Russell has been an unimpeachable example of excellence in both teaching and scholarship, and it was his seminar more than any other single factor that inculcated in me the aspiration to thorough research. I am also grateful to Dr. David Jeffrey, first for teaching me to read Augustine (though he may not have been aware he was doing so), and for consistently giving intelligent answers even to questions that fell outside his areas of academic expertise. His breadth of knowledge in the humanities and his frank advice in matters of professionalism have been invaluable throughout my graduate studies, but I am above all grateful for Dr. Jeffrey‟s personal viii example as a truly charitable reader. I also thank Dr. Luke Ferretter for his frequent encouragement on the project, and for giving me the opportunity to present a derivation of one of my chapters at the Twentieth-Century Studies Seminar. Dr. Michael Foley graciously agreed to be the extra-departmental reader, even though we had not previously met.
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