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Poet: W. H. Auden
Poem: Petition
Poem of the Day on:
Apr 24 2003
Comment 3 of 3, added on October 21st, 2005 at 4:29 AM.
God is humane, but God is God after all! Hence,"Sir".By "distortions of ingrown virginity",is Auden hinting at social taboos or at inner purity? Maybe both;maybe none.But he certainly is not happy with man's ways and prefers his heart to change.
Manika Upadhyay from India
Comment 2 of 3, added on January 22nd, 2005 at 5:09 AM.
Although I am not familiar with past criticism of this poem, it reads as an updated version of the Lord's Prayer replete with Auden's lack of faith in the modern world to provide for the needs of human beings. I take "Sir" to be God, and the narrator to be asking God to remain distant but to help with everyday miseries. He seems to be asking for aid for all humans with small things and for God's appreciation of the simple things like architecture and kind changes of heart that make us human. Perhaps others have more to offer on this.
zahra from Iran
Comment 1 of 3, added on November 30th, 2004 at 8:37 PM.
Although I am not familiar with past criticism of this poem, it reads as an updated version of the Lord's Prayer replete with Auden's lack of faith in the modern world to provide for the needs of human beings. I take "Sir" to be God, and the narrator to be asking God to remain distant but to help with everyday miseries. He seems to be asking for aid for all humans with small things and for God's appreciation of the simple things like architecture and kind changes of heart that make us human. Perhaps others have more to offer on this.
Ed from United States
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God is humane, but God is God after all! Hence,"Sir".By "distortions of ingrown virginity",is Auden hinting at social taboos or at inner purity? Maybe both;maybe none.But he certainly is not happy with man's ways and prefers his heart to change.
Manika Upadhyay from India