Poem Journal

Refuge Blues: W. H. Auden Joaquin Magana
Personal Response 1-2-07

S: A refuge
O: During the Holocaust
A: Jewish People
P: To express their reactions towards the way their being treated
S: the cruelty of dictation
Tone: Protesting, Depressing

This poem uses the poetic device perfect rhyme, ballad, and caesura. Auden uses perfect rhyme by rhyming in some of his lines. Auden does not rhyme in every line adding a more meaningful tone to the poem because it is easier to understand and get the point across in every line. Moreover Auden also uses ballad to convey his message in the poem. This poem is written in a song like structure. Auden is narrating a story and at the same time he puts his story into a song. In order to narrate his story Auden uses caesura in order to make sure that he gets all his ideas across to the reader. If Auden did not pause during his narration it would be hard to understand the meaning of his words and his message. As I read this poem I connect it to the lives of all the immigrants that migrate from South America to the United States in search of a better life. Many immigrants who try to come to the United States face many obstacles such as racism and exclusion from society. These two obstacles do not allow immigrants to accomplish their goals just like the Jews in the Holocaust couldn’t accomplish their goals. I also connect the message of this poem to the lives of my parents. My parents are immigrants as well and they had to face many obstacles to accomplish their goals. The incidents of the holocaust will never be forgotten due to the malevolent actions of Hitler.