W. H. Auden’s poetry was very confusing to me. The poem that was easier for me to understand was “The Shield of Achilles”. This, I fear, is only due to my knowing a little bit about the history of Achilles. Achilles was a demigod son of the goddess Thetis who was a sea nymph. The shield of Achilles was lost when a friend wore it into battle and was slain. The first two stanza’s are speaking of the beach near Troy where Achaeans were stationed before the siege. The “She” in the poem, I believe, is Thetis. She is trying to get her son new armor from the god of fire, Hephaestos. The mother is worried because she has seen that her son has defiled a temple that worships the “gods” and has given no offerings to the “gods” for favor during the battle and with good reason. Having seen these actions, Hephaestos is displeased with Achilles and decides he is not worthy of his armor. In the last stanza, Thetis is watching her son most carefully because she is certain he is soon to die. Her assumptions are proven, if I remember the story correctly.
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