Stephen Burt compares Auden's rejection of "Spain 1937" and "September 1", despite the differences between them. He says :
"["September 1"] does not call on us to take any particular immediate action; instead, it asks us to reveal a disposition (one we presumably already have) and to share a feeling (one that should affect our future judgments). In this the poem differs from "Spain," which (in its original version) sought to turn "Our hours of friendship into a people's army," moving its readers quite directly from statements about human nature to a plea for practical, worldly action. The generality of Auden's concluding communal prayer, or promise, or wish ("May I ... like them .. .I /Show .. .") in "September 1, 1939" might become a crippling defect for critics like Nelson, who often seek work that, like "Spain," supports a particular pro- gram" (540).
He also notes differences between the messages of the two:
"[In 'September 1"], if all is right in the second realm (if "we," "the Just," "love one another"), then all will later be right in the first (we will not die). "Spain" instead seeks to impose the realm of history on the realm of feeling: if all is made right in the first (if "we" "accept . . . the necessary murder," "the flat ephemeral pamphlet and the boring meeting" and thereby save the Republic), then all will later be right in the second (we will enjoy "romantic love" and "perfect communion")." (542).
Mendelson, in "Revision and Power" says that Auden rejected these poems "because he distrusted their power to convince his readers that he and they were on the right side in the great struggles of the age, that they were "the just" who exchanged messages through "ironic points of light."" (105). He says that Auden "renounced any theories of poetry that assume that a poem works by compelling a response in its reader" (105).
"["September 1"] does not call on us to take any particular immediate action; instead, it asks us to reveal a disposition (one we presumably already have) and to share a feeling (one that should affect our future judgments). In this the poem differs from "Spain," which (in its original version) sought to turn "Our hours of friendship into a people's army," moving its readers quite directly from statements about human nature to a plea for practical, worldly action. The generality of Auden's concluding communal prayer, or promise, or wish ("May I ... like them .. .I /Show .. .") in "September 1, 1939" might become a crippling defect for critics like Nelson, who often seek work that, like "Spain," supports a particular pro- gram" (540).
He also notes differences between the messages of the two:
"[In 'September 1"], if all is right in the second realm (if "we," "the Just," "love one another"), then all will later be right in the first (we will not die). "Spain" instead seeks to impose the realm of history on the realm of feeling: if all is made right in the first (if "we" "accept . . . the necessary murder," "the flat ephemeral pamphlet and the boring meeting" and thereby save the Republic), then all will later be right in the second (we will enjoy "romantic love" and "perfect communion")." (542).
Mendelson, in "Revision and Power" says that Auden rejected these poems "because he distrusted their power to convince his readers that he and they were on the right side in the great struggles of the age, that they were "the just" who exchanged messages through "ironic points of light."" (105). He says that Auden "renounced any theories of poetry that assume that a poem works by compelling a response in its reader" (105).