Lullaby (Auden) - W.H. Auden
A Romantic Meditation on Love’s Transience and Affirmation
Excerpt (under 90 characters, for copyright compliance):
“Lay your sleeping head, my love, / Human on my faithless arm…”
First published in 1937, W.H. Auden’s “Lullaby” is a delicate yet profound meditation on the tension between love’s tenderness and its inevitable impermanence. Addressed to a sleeping lover, the poem interweaves romantic longing with philosophical musings on mortality. Its opening lines immediately set a gentle, nighttime scene, inviting the beloved to rest in trust—even though the speaker acknowledges his own human failings.
Across its four stanzas, “Lullaby” confronts time’s power to erode youth and passion. Yet Auden resists despair: the poem suggests that if lovers accept life’s transience, they can cherish every moment more deeply. Balancing sophisticated lyricism with accessible emotion, Auden juxtaposes images of cosmic grandeur—stars and celestial wonder—with the close intimacy of two people sharing a night.
Stylistically, “Lullaby” exemplifies Auden’s graceful control of form, blending iambic meter and a flexible rhyme scheme. The speaker’s voice shifts between private intimacy, broader reflections on history and the cosmos, and a return to private tenderness. The result is a poem at once supremely romantic and quietly realistic about the fragility of human bonds. In this way, “Lullaby” resonates as both a timeless love lyric and a philosophical statement on the necessity of living wholeheartedly, no matter how brief the span of bliss may be.
Key points
1. Emphasizes the preciousness of shared moments in the face of mortality.
2. Balances gentle intimacy and philosophical depth in its exploration of love.
3. Contrasts everyday affection with cosmic, timeless elements.
4. Serves as a classic example of Auden’s lyrical craft and reflective humanism.