Conclusion
It is been my belief that an artist, of any kind, reveals more of him- or herself in their work than they realise. After writing this essay, I stand by this theory. However, I believe it can be hard to, precisely, know which poem was written about whom. This is because Auden often analyzed his feelings for a long time before writing about them. Moreover he also wrote poems about feelings he had felt years earlier. My own conclusion is that the people in Auden’s life, especially the ones I have mentioned, meant a great deal to him, and therefore his work.As to how they influenced him, it is different from person to person. I believe that Isherwood helped Auden in various ways, not only as an inspirational source. He encouraged Auden to write when he felt insecure. In addition, he also helped Auden by giving notes to poems he wrote. Kallman, as well as being an inspirational source, was very important as Auden found a new kind of trust in him and therefore with his feelings (expressed in his poetry). In Jaffe, Auden found a different kind of physical attraction which was more about the body than the mind, and this is reflected in his poetry from the time. Finally, in J.R.R. Tolkien, Auden had someone to admire and look up to. It was Tolkien who introduced Anglo-Saxon to Auden, in such a way that Auden was intrigued by it. The fact that Auden used the Anglo-Saxon accentual meter in his poetry is testimony to Tolkien’s influence.