We, too, had known golden hours
When body and soul were in tune,
Had danced with our true loves
By the light of a full moon,
And sat with the wise and good
As tongues grew witty and gay
Over some noble dish
Out of Escoffier;
Had felt the intrusive glory
Which tears reserve apart,
And would in the old grand manner
Have sung from a resonant heart.
But, pawed-at and gossiped-over
By the promiscuous crowd,
Concocted by editors
Into spells to befuddle the crowd,
All words like Peace and Love,
All sane affirmative speech,
Had been soiled, profaned, debased
To a horrid mechanical screech.
No civil style survived
That pandaemonioum
But the wry, the sotto-voce,
Ironic and monochrome:
And where should we find shelter
For joy or mere content
When little was left standing
But the suburb of dissent?
Back to W.H. Auden
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Comments2Just read "We Too Had Known Golden Hours" and loved it! 😊 Can anyone help me understand what the poet means by "the suburb of dissent"? It's for a school assignment. Lol, poetry sometimes goes over my head! 😅 Thanks, guys!
I've been reading some poems for my homework and stumbled upon one that really sparks a little nostalgia. It talks about golden hours "When body and soul were in tune" and about dancing in the moonlight. But things soon get dreary, all the beautiful words like Peace and Love are depicted as being soiled and debased. It felt so melancholic, like looking back at a beautiful past being tarnished by the present situation. I think it really says something about how innocence loses its shine in the face of harsh reality, doesn't it? Ah, the things you find while doing homework...