W.H. Auden's "The Healing Fountain" Read through A. Aviram's Theory of Poetic Rhythm

Book excerpt: Although Auden has often been hailed as the twentieth century’s master of metre and most outstanding practitioner of traditional poetic forms, his metrical art still remains a mystery, as far as its real significance is concerned. This book sheds new light on the enticing appeal of formal poetry which induced Auden into composing in almost every possible stanza form. In order to work out a ‘new’ appreciative assessment of Auden’s formal art, the book uses Amittai Aviram’s theory of poetic rhythm, which transcends the common literary critical process, based on the rhetorical assessment of rhythm in poetry. Aviram’s theory clearly revolutionises our common methods of interpretation regarding rhythm rather than meaning as the starting point in reading poetry; it is the poem’s ideas and theme which express and strengthen rhythm, not the other way round. Such conception of rhythm, as allegorized by meaning (images and metaphors), breathes new life into the outworn Russian formalist tradition. Turning to Auden’s poetry today may be said to be urged by both literary and political contexts; in an age marked by uncertainties and an upsurge of violence, poetry’s voice, regrettably, reverberates less forcefully, sinking into a state of formal loosening. As such, this book may be said to be prompted by a ‘necessity’ to revive the interest in Auden’s poetry, especially given its recent neglect. A reconsideration of Auden’s conception of the nature of poetry and its status enables us to encrypt his verbal art, assess its multiple effects, and appreciate the metrical range that has helped the poet handle so subtly his twofold inquiry: What is poetry? What is its use?