''The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue'' (1947; first UK edition, 1948) is a long

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

in six parts by W. H. Auden, written mostly in a modern version of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

alliterative verse. The poem deals, in

eclogue An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics. Overview The form of the word ''eclogue'' in contemporary English developed from Middle English , which came from Latin , whi ...

form, with man's quest to find substance and

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

in a shifting and increasingly

industrialized Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econom ...

world. Set in a wartime bar in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Auden uses four characters – Quant, Malin, Rosetta, and Emble – to explore and develop his themes. The poem won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1948. It inspired a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

by composer

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, ''The Age of Anxiety'' (Symphony No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra), which in turn was used for both a 1950 ballet by

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

and a 2014 ballet by

Liam Scarlett Liam Scarlett (8 April 198616 April 2021) was a British choreographer who was an artist in residence with The Royal Ballet and artistic associate with Queensland Ballet. He also choreographed new works for Ballet Black, Miami City Ballet, No ...

. A critical edition of the poem, edited by Alan Jacobs, was published by

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

in 2011. "The Age of Anxiety" is also the title of the first chapter of ''The Wisdom of Insecurity'' by Alan Watts (1951). In 2019, musician

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

's first novel was published. Its title is ''The Age of Anxiety''.

References

External links

The W. H. Auden Society

The Guardian's Book Review
10 Apr 2010 1947 books Books by W. H. Auden Poetry by W. H. Auden Pulitzer Prize for Poetry-winning works Random House books {{poem-stub