The Unknown Citizen

“Stop All the Clocks” by W. H. Auden (1938)

This poem, also known as “Funeral Blues,” was originally written for a play by Auden and Isherwood, Ascent of F6 (1936). Two years later, Auden radically revised it and transformed it into a cabaret song performed on stage. In 1940, it was collected into Another Time, with “The Unknown Citizen.” “Stop All the Clocks,” like “The Unknown Citizen,” is an elegy and employs loosely metered heroic couplet rhyming. Its tone is more sincere—“[h]e was my North, my South, my East and West / My working week and my Sunday rest” (Lines 9-10)—and presents individual distress instead of a bureaucratic response.

“Epitaph on a Tyrant” by W. H. Auden (1940)

This political poem also appeared in Another Time and was placed right before “The Unknown Citizen” in the volume. This poem has a similar subject matter and the same use of sarcastic irony. The tyrant of the title could easily refer to various totalitarian governmental leaders like Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. The men in power are in thrall to the tyrant and “[w]hen he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter” (Line 5). The idea that the surrounding populace is under the sway of the tyrant’s moods is indicated by lines like “when he cried the little children died in the streets” (Line 6). This creates an undercurrent of sinister action that also appears in “The Unknown Citizen.” The tyrant’s pursuit of “perfection, of a kind” (Line 1) is similar to the perfection encouraged by the State.

“September 1, 1939” by W. H. Auden (1939)

In “September 1, 1939,” one of Auden’s most famous works, the poem’s title commemorates the date of the invasion of Poland by Nazi forces, and the start of World War II. It appeared in Another Time, along with “The Unknown Citizen.” The speaker in this political poem details the struggles that led up to World War II and mentions how they are “uncertain and afraid” (Line 3) as well as angry at the rising fascism. Like “The Unknown Citizen,” this poem touches on how people move routinely through their daily lives, thinking only of progress. The speaker also mentions the State and “the lie of Authority / [w]hose buildings grope the sky: / There is no such thing as the State / And no one exists alone” (Lines 83-86). They urge their audience to see that the collective can either be negative (the rigid totalitarianism of the State expressed in “The Unknown Citizen”) or more positive. The speaker wants the audience to embrace the idea that “we must love each other or die” (Line 89), looking out for each other. The speaker insists they, too, will try to be an “affirming flame” (Line 100) in this dark time.