Epitaph on a Tyrant Worksheet PDF

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Epitaph on a tyrant practice worksheet...

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Ironically, the poem begins with a Romantic ideal – the search for perfection. This is modified by the subordinate clause “of a kind.” Why does Auden do this? What kind of “perfection” did tyrants try to achieve, and what was the impact on their people? This is the second line as a couplet. Why does Auden start talking about human folly after the line about poetry – what idea is he prompting for the reader?

An epitaph is an inscription on a tombstone. Auden subverts this form by ironically using the epitaph to condemn, rather than celebrate, the anonymous tyrant. He subtly positions the reader to look back at the past. In addition, by using the indefinite pronoun “a” rather than a name, Auden transforms the poem into an atemporal commentary on tyranny throughout time. What message does this convey about human nature and human society?

Epitaph on a Tyrant (1940)

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after, And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;

In your opinion, what does the simile suggest about how the tyrant views other people?

He knew human folly like the back of his hand,

Note that this line rhymes with the final line, linking the tyrant’s interest in “armies and fleets” to the description of the children dying.

When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,

This line creates an understatement, making the tyrant’s focus on the military sound almost like a childish hobby. This creates an unsettling disjunction between the poem and the assumptions of the reader.

And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;

And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

A metapoetic comment on the role of language. We are positioned to be suspicious of this poetry because we know it is from a tyrant – so what is ‘tyrannical’ about poetry that is “easy to understand”? (Note the use of the verb “invented,” and also think about the slogans in Animal Farm…) Why do the senators laugh when the tyrant laughs, and what does this show about the power of the tyrant? What is the effect of the simplistic imagery “he laughed” and “he cried” – how do you picture the tyrant? What is the effect of the internal rhyme of “cried” and “died”?

The poem is a sestet (six line stanza) with an irregular rhyme scheme (ABBCAC) and meter. Re-read the first two lines of the poem again, and then think about why Auden would have deliberately written with this structure.

In your own words, summarise the moral message Auden is presenting through the pathos of the final line....