February 21

February 21, 1907, is the birthdate of poet Wystan Hugh Auden, who published works as W. H. Auden. He was born in York, England, studied at Oxford, and later became a U.S. citizen. He is admired for his wide-ranging intellect, technical virtuosity in writing in many verse forms, use of vernacular speech, and his frequent focus on popular culture, society and religion, and major political and cultural events. His most admired poems include "Musée des Beaux Arts" (“About suffering they were never wrong,/ The Old Masters”) … “In Memory of W. B. Yeats” (“Teach the free man how to praise”) … “Lullaby” (“Lay your sleeping head, my love,/ Human on my faithless arm”) … and "September 1, 1939" (“Defenceless under the night/ Our world in stupor lies”). … His poem "Funeral Blues" ("He was my North, my South, my East and West ") was popularized by its use in a 1994 movie.