“I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.”

—  W. H. Auden , September 1, 1939

Source: September 1, 1939 (1939), Lines 1–11

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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W. H. Auden photo
W. H. Auden 122
Anglo-American poet 1907–1973

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