The Auroras of Autumn

The Auroras of Autumn  
Author(s) Wallace Stevens
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Poetry
Publisher Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date September, 1950
Preceded by Transport to Summer
Followed by Collected Poems

The Auroras of Autumn is a 1950 book of poetry by Wallace Stevens. It features the 1948 Stevens poem of the same name, whose title refers to the Aurora Borealis, or the "Northern Lights", in the fall.[1] The book collects 32 Stevens poems written between 1947 and 1950, and was his last collection before his 1954 Collected Poems.[2]

"The Auroras of Autumn" is a 240-line poem divided into ten sections of 24 lines each. It is considered one of Stevens' more challenging and "difficult"[3] works, and a classic example of the English Romantic tradition.[4]

Another notable poem in the book is The Owl in the Sarcophagus, an elegy for Stevens' best friend, Henry Church.[5]

It won the 1951 National Book Award for Poetry.

Notes

  1. ^ "The Auroras of Autumn (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)". eNotes.com. http://www.enotes.com/auroras-autumn-salem/auroras-autumn. Retrieved May 14, 2010. 
  2. ^ Cook, Eleanor. A Reader's Guide to Wallace Stevens (Princeton University Press, 2007), p. 237.
  3. ^ Unsworth, John. "An Echo of Baudelaire in 'The Auroras of Autumn'," American Literature vol. 60, #1 (Mar. 1988).
  4. ^ Finch, Annie (October 28, 2009). "The Poetry of Autumn: Forget spring. Fall is the season for poetry,". Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=238068. 
  5. ^ Bloom, Harold (1980). Wallace Stevens: The Poems of Our Climate. Cornell University Press. .

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