In the collection of poems published in About the House, Auden both draws an analogy between the house as a building and the building of the self. He represents the house as a human construct, which is like a haven for men against the siege of the outer world and mainly nature. Spirit alters, moulds, makes it.
Every spirit builds itself a house.
Auden's approach to nature is very similar to that of Emerson. It does not resemble the idyllic realm of Wordsworth, where man finds God, truth, justice and light. According to Auden, nature, when it is not inimical, is indifferent to man. It is devoid of any real sense of truth and justice. And what is true is also just.