One of the modern masters of the extended poem, W. H. Auden has selected for this volume the longer poems he originally published between 1930 and 1947, which are among his most enduring achievements, both for their technical virtuosity and for the emotional and intellectual precision with which he dissects the spiritual illnesses of our times.

Paid on both sides.--Letter to Lord Byron.--New Year letter.--For the time being.--The sea and the mirror.--The age of anxiety.