W. H. Auden

"She looked over his shoulder For vines and olive trees, Marble well-governed cities And ships upon untamed seas, But there on the shining metal His hands had put instead An artificial wilderness And a sky like lead."

"A million eyes, a million boots in line, Without expression, waiting for a sign."

"Out of the air a voice without a face Proved by statistics that some cause was just In tones as dry and level as the place."

"The mass and majesty of this world, all That carries weight and always weighs the same Lay in the hands of others; they were small And could not hope for help and no help came: What their foes like to do was done, their shame Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride And died as men before their bodies died."

"That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third, Were axioms to him, who'd never heard Of any world where promises were kept Or one could weep because another wept."

"The thin-lipped armorer, Hephaestos, hobbled away, Thetis of the shining breasts Cried out in dismay At what the god had wrought To please her son, the strong Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles Who would not live long."

"To save your world you asked this man to die; Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?"

"This great society is going to smash; They cannot fool us with how fast they go, How much they cost each other and the gods. A culture is no better than its woods."

"How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me."

"Admirer as I think I am Of stars that do not give a damn, I cannot, now I see them, say I missed one terribly all day."

"Wir fürchten uns wohl vor dem Schmerz, // Mehr aber vor der Stille, denn kein grausamer Alpdruck // Könnte furchtbarer sein als diese Öde. // Dies ist die Verdammnis. Dies ist der Zorn Gottes."

"Vergnügen ist keineswegs ein unfehlbarer kritischer Leitfaden, doch ist es der am wenigsten fehlbare."

"Manche Bücher geraten unverdient in Vergessenheit; unverdient ins Gedächtnis zurückgerufen wird keines."