Complex sentence: By the time of Auden's death in 1973 he had attained the status of a respected elder statesman, and a memorial stone for him was placed in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1974.
Split into simpler sentences: By the time of Auden's death in 1973 he had attained the status of a respected elder statesman. A memorial stone for Auden was placed in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1974.