Abstract
What could a layman think about such a poem? When one tries to understand a poem, it is in fact a whole work that must be understood; a whole thought that has to be reached. Whether we are studying a poem by W. H. Auden, E. Bishop, W. B. Yeats, or A. Sexton, it is impossible to understand it without taking an interest in their comprehensive works. For that reason, as with many poets, after having read The Wanderer, the reader is under the impression that the poem is nothing but a cryptic text. That feeling prevents the understanding of the poem, but must be overrun in order to get the full meaning of it. That observation raises several inquiries that we will try to determinate. That is why commenting on how a poem is a singular piece of a larger work and what is meant through it cannot be overlooked or fathomed aside. Indeed, we cannot aspire to comment effectively on The Wanderer without having a look at the creative thought of W. H. Auden, were it brief.
The Wanderer; hardly is this word out that the reader is already taken away. We cannot deny the importance of seeking faraway confines in W. H. Auden's poetry; we find it in this poem, but also throughout his whole poetic work. The idea of the existence of a way out is shown through this poem. However, where does Auden really flee? This quest for another world also reflects a deep elegiac tone that pervades his style.
