Night Mail, W.H.Auden
"OMG so what should
I remember about this poem ???"
- poem about mail being delivered at night (hence the title "Night Mail")
- Meant to be heard (rhythm, rhyme scheme, anaphoras)
- universality of letters
- importance of human connections
Context
All aboard the
Night Mail Express!
Important Quotes
- "For who can bear to feel himself forgotten? "
- "Letters for the rich, letters for the poor"
- Written in 1936 to accompany a documentary film
- Reveal how the mail was distributed by train
- International news : particularly important
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmciuKsBOi0
Structure / Content
Poem divided into four sections
FIRST SECTION
SECOND SECTION
- variety of letters to a variety of people (universality)
- train personified
- animals / humans
- train descending into Scotland (industrial landscape)
- scotland longs for its news (historical context)
- irregular meter (=/= first section)
THIRD SECTION
FOURTH SECTION
- excitement of people receiving all the letters (though most of them are still asleep)
= like a fairy giving gifts / santa
- inventory of all the things sent by post (anaphora)
- rhythm : faster / easier to memorize + rhyme scheme
- people fast asleep : unaware of the train (not grateful enough?)
- last line : emphasizes the importance of mail at the time
I hope I'll get a
letter from my parents
this time...