The Poetics of Conversion: Theological Themes in the Poetry of W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden's theological readings reveal an interest in the existential tradition of Christian thought. Aspects of his major poems For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio (1944), The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue (1947), and Horae Canonicae (1949–1952) reflect theological parallels betwee...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Barton, Adam (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Johns Hopkins University Press 2022
In: Christianity & literature
Year: 2022, Volume: 71, Issue: 3, Pages: 344-359
IxTheo Classification:CD Christianity and Culture
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
NAB Fundamental theology
Further subjects:B Kairos
B Incarnation
B Anxiety
B Conversion
B Being
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Summary:W. H. Auden's theological readings reveal an interest in the existential tradition of Christian thought. Aspects of his major poems For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio (1944), The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue (1947), and Horae Canonicae (1949–1952) reflect theological parallels between the poems and the thought of German theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich. Auden's explicitly Christian poems evince themes of Tillichian ontological theology as he explores the issues of self, displacement, anxiety, Kairos, and conversion—specifically through his focus on the Incarnation. At odds with secular existentialism, Auden suggests the problems of the modern individual are uniquely spiritual problems that are the result of displacement from God.
ISSN:2056-5666
Contains:Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/chy.2022.0030