These hidden allusions in the poem furnish me with a nice transition to my final part, since they are examples of how poetry, being a more concentrated form of language than prose, is more demanding, and therefore more rewarding, for the reader. In this last part I shall be looking at what distinguishes a poem from other types of historical documents. Firstly, the rhythm and layout of a poem can enact the historical event they it is evoking. Here, for instance, the isolation of Radcliffe is well brought out by the separation into stanzas. Secondly, a poem is able to focus on the human in history.
Historians tend to falsify by leaving out the human element.
Haunting both turnings away from suffering is Auden s own real-life sailing to New York on the eve of the Second World War, an act which was throughout his life portrayed as a betrayal. Thirdly, a poem forces the reader to work harder than does a piece of historical prose, and so prevents him from being lulled into a false sense of security. A poem calls attention to its artifice, and so encourages the reader to be on his guard. Language is used suggestively, asking not assuming, the reader s assent to an assertion. One of the most striking things in the poem is the fact that Radcliffe is never named.