In the eyes of others a man is a poet if he has written one… - W. H. Auden

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In the eyes of others a man is a poet if he has written one good poem. In his own he is only a poet at the moment when he is making his last revision to a new poem. The moment before, he was still only a potential poet; the moment after, he is a man who has ceased to write poetry, perhaps forever.

W. H. Auden

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writing vocation creation

English

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About W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was an Anglo-American poet known for his vast poetic work in many forms on many themes.

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Also Known As

Native Name: Wystan Hugh Auden

Alternative Names: Wystan Auden • Wystan H Auden • W. H. Wystan Hugh Auden

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Originators like W. H. Auden:

T. S. Eliot Czesław Miłosz E. M. Forster William Carlos Williams Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Additional quotes by W. H. Auden

For the others, like me, there is only the flash
Of negative knowledge, the night when, drunk, one
Staggers to the bathroom and stares in the glass
To meet one’s madness

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

Few people take an interest in Iceland, but in those few the interest is passionate.

In the eyes of others a man is a poet if he has written one good poem. In his own he is only a poet at the moment when he is making his last revision… - W. H. Auden

About W. H. Auden

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