Poet W. H. Auden taught students at Swarthmore for three years, 1942-1945. Swarthmore’s library started rather early to collect Auden’s manuscripts and other materials, including the typewriter he used there — an Underwood, as you can see, below.
The library has a detailed, on-line exhibit of Auden’s work and associations with the college, material useful for student research and in-class presentations related to his work.
Auden’s poetry was contemporary, and it reflected the fears and passions of lovers, and lovers of liberty, in the face of the fascist threat of World War II. Auden died, aged by tobacco, alcohol and barbituates, in 1973, aged 67.
Resources:
- Auden’s biography — it’s pretty interesting — at Poets.org, the Academy of American Poets
- .pdf of the Swarthmore alumni magazine article on Auden at the college
- Auden’s poems, at the site of the W. H. Auden Society
- Auden’s poem, “September 1, 1939″
- “As I Walked Out One Evening”
- W. H. Auden Society
