The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden | Poetry in English

The Unknown Citizen

Poetry in English

The Unknown Citizen

“The Unknown Citizen” is a famous poem by W.H. Auden. W.H. Auden was a British American poet. His poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement its engagement with Politics, morals , love and religion. His famous poems include : 

• Another time
• Spain
• The age of Anxiety and so on. 

                    The poem “The unknown citizen" is a satire on the plight of an ordinary citizen in the modern society. It describes the dull mechanical life of the modern man. The modern citizen is a non-entity. He has no individual identity of his own. He can’t think for himself. He is merely a tool in the hands of the state-machinery, called “Great Community”. He is only a soulless number to feed the computer. Different institutions monitor him in the name of ensuring his well being.

                  He has been found to be a saint. The word saint has been used in an ironical sense. The unknown citizen is a blameless man. He does not do harm to anyone. He is a social popular and a man of character. He is a loyal citizen. He obeys all the laws of the state. There is no complaint against him. He has everything that a modern man needs for his living. He is fully aware of benefits of advertisements. He has all the necessities of life. He has a gramophone, a radio, a car and a refrigerator etc.

                 His union advises him when to go on strike. He follows public opinion. The eugenist tells him to produce five children. The health and press departments ask him to get insurance policies and health card and read the newspaper. 

                 The poet believes that the modern men’s neither happy nor-free. He is just a unit who has no private or personal life. He does not things because all others around him do so. If he lives according to the standards laid down by the “Great Community”, he is regarded as an ideal citizen. Nobody cares to know whether he is happy or not. Physical comforts can’t be equated with happiness. 

The unknown citizen is a  gutless man in real sense.

Poetry in English

Gagandeep Kaur Chahal