海角大神

Thanks to several bestselling mystery series, including 鈥�The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,鈥� 鈥淚sabel Dalhousie," 鈥淧ortuguese Irregular Verbs,鈥� and 鈥�44 Scotland Street,鈥� Scottish writer Alexander McCall Smith is one of the most successful authors in the world.

In a new book released last month, Smith credits a lot of his creative inspiration to W.H. Auden, the British poet who lived from 1907 to 1973. 鈥淚 have learned so much from this poet,鈥� Smith writes in a slender volume titled 鈥淲hat W. H. Auden Can Do for You.鈥�

鈥淢y life has been enriched by his language. I have stopped and thought, and thought, over so many of his lines. He can be with us in every part of our lives, showing us how rich life can be, and how precious. For that, I am more grateful to him than I can ever say.鈥�

Smith鈥檚 137-page testimonial is part of Princeton鈥檚 鈥淲riters on Writers鈥� series, in which contributing authors pen small books celebrating their debt to other wordsmiths. Previous books in the series include Philip Lopate on Susan Sontag, C.K. Williams on Walt Whitman, and Michael Dirda on Arthur Conan Doyle.

Auden, regarded as one of the major poets of the 20th century, immigrated to the US in 1939 and became an American citizen, but he returned to Europe for his final years. His poetry remains popular today, and one of his most celebrated poems, 鈥淔uneral Blues,鈥� was featured in the 1994 film 鈥淔our Weddings and a Funeral.鈥�

鈥淚 believe that if you read this poet, and think about what he has to say to you, then in a subtle but significant way you will be changed,鈥� Smith tells readers. 鈥淭his happened to me, and it can happen to you.鈥�

Here, in honor of Auden鈥檚 influence on Alexander McCall Smith and thousands of readers around the world, are 10 quotes from the revered bard:

1. "Sob, heavy world,
Sob as you spin,
Mantled in mist, remote from the happy."

鈥� from "The Age of Anxiety"

2. "Let us honor if we can
The vertical man
Though we value none
But the horizontal one."

鈥� from 鈥淓pigraph for Poems鈥澨�

3. "About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window
Or just walking dully along."

鈥� from 鈥淢usee des Beaux Arts鈥澨�

4. "Earth, receive an honored guest;
William Yeats is laid to rest.
Let the Irish vessel lie
Emptied of its poetry."

鈥� from 鈥淚n Memory of W.B. Yeats鈥�

5. "In the nightmare of the dark
All the dogs of Europe bark"

鈥� from 鈥淚n Memory of W. B. Yeats鈥�

6. "Intellectual disgrace
Stares from every human face,
And the seas of pity lie
Locked and frozen in each eye."

鈥� from 鈥淚n Memory of W.B. Yeats鈥�

7. "To us he is no more a person
Now but a whole climate of opinion."

听鈥� from 鈥淚n Memory of Sigmund Freud鈥�

8. "If thou must choose
Between the chances, choose the odd;
Read the New Yorker; trust in God;
And take short views."

鈥� from 鈥淯nder Which Lyre鈥澨�

9. "Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered."

鈥�听from "The Dyer鈥檚 Hand鈥�

10. "It takes little talent to see clearly what lies under one鈥檚 nose, a good deal of it to know in which direction to point that organ."

鈥� from "The Dyer鈥檚 Hand鈥�

Danny Heitman is a Monitor contributor.

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