Auden, towards the end of his life, repudiated the poem I quoted from last week. "The reason (artistic) I left England and went to the US was precisely to stop writing poems like "Sept 1st 1939", the most dishonest poem I have ever written," he said. "A hang-over from the UK. It takes time to cure oneself." And: "If, by memorability, you mean a poem like "Sept 1st 1939", I pray to God that I shall never be memorable again."

Oh well.

The Onion has excelled itself.