As I Walked Out One Evening

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"As I Walked Out One Evening"
written by W.H. Auden Presentation by Jenny and
Noelle
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In the burrows of the Nightmare Where Justice
naked is, Time watches from the shadow And coughs
when you would kiss. In headaches and in
worry Vaguely life leaks away, And time will have
his fancy To-morrow or to-day. Into many a
green valley Drifts the appalling snow Time
breaks the threaded dances And the divers
brilliant bow. O plunge your hands in the
water Plunge them up to the wrist Stare, stare
in the basin And wonder what youve
missed. The glacier knocks in the
cupboard, The desert sighs in the bed, And the
crack in the tea-cup opens A lane to the land of
the day.
Where the beggars raffle the banknotes And the
Giant is enchanting to Jack, And the Lily-white
Boy is a Roarer And Jill goes down on her
back. O look, look in the mirror, O look in
your distress Life remains a blessing Although
you cannot bless. O stand, stand at the
window As the tears scald and start You shall
love your crooked neighbor With you crooked
heart. It was late, late in the evening The
lovers they were gone The clocks had ceased
their chiming, And the deep river ran on.
As I walked out one evening, Walking down Bristol
Street, The crowds upon the pavement Were fields
of harvest wheat. And down by the brimming
river I hear a lover sing Under an arch of the
railway Love has no ending. Ill love you,
dear, Ill love you Till China and Africa
meet, And the river jumps over the mountain And
the salmon sing in the street. Ill love you
till the ocean Is folded up and hung to dry And
the seven stars go squawking Like geese about the
sky. The years shall run like rabbits For in my
arms I hold The Flower of the ages And the first
love of the world. But all the clocks in the
city Began to whirr and chime O let not Time
deceive you You cannot conquer Time.
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Wystan Hugh Auden

• Born February 27, 1907 in York, England
• Died September 28, 1973 in Vienna, Austria
• Wrote As I Walked Out One Evening in 1940
• Occupation writer, poet, essayist, and
  playwright
• Writes about moral issues
• Moved to the United States in 1939 and became a
  citizen in 1946.

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Poem Summary/ Meaning

• It is about two people confessing their never
  ending love for one another.

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Theme

• Love will last forever only if you let it.
• Time is always there to remind you that you
  cannot control your mortal fate.

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Imagery

• hear a lover sing
• see the geese about the sky
• Hear the clocks in the city begin to whirr and
  chime
• See running like rabbits
• Feel and see the crack in the tea-cup

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Symbols

• O let not Time deceive you
• You cannot conquer Time.
• The years shall run like rabbits
• Into many a green valley
• Drifts the appalling snow.
• O plunge your hands in water
• Plunge them up to the wrist
• Stare, stare in the basin
• And wonder what youve missed.

Flying Time
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Figurative Language

• Personification
• Hyperbole
• Allusion
• Inverted word order

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Sound Patterns

• Rhyme
• Alliteration
• Repetition

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structure

• 14 stanzas
• quatrains

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Historical context

• Railroads
• Love affair

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Cultural/Geographical Context

• But all the clocks in the city
• Began to whirr and chime
• Walking down Bristol Street
• Were fields of harvest wheat.

Big Ben
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Criticisms

• He was possibly considered to be the most
  important English poet of the 20th century.
• His early works were embraced for political
  issues.
• His later literary works were condemned for
  religious orthodoxy.

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Personal response

• We liked this poem because it showed that people
  can love one person for all their life.

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Works Cited
Big Ben. Online image. 23 February 2004.
www.tsu.tmb.ru.millrood1/content.htm Flying
Time. Online image. 23 February 2004.
www.evangelicaloutreach.org/timefliesby.htm Johns
on, Richard, "W. H. Auden," Concise Dictionary of
British Literary Biography, Volume 6 Modern
Writers, 1914-1945, edited by Matthew J.
Bruccoli and Richard Layman, Gale Research Inc.,
1991, pp. 3-35. DISCovering Authors. Online
Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in Student
Resource Center. Detroit Gale,
2004. http//galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC
"W(ystan) H(ugh) Auden." DISCovering Authors.
Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in
Student Resource Center. Detroit Gale,
2004. http//galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC