{"id":60,"date":"2009-01-09T12:54:28","date_gmt":"2009-01-09T16:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/?p=60"},"modified":"2026-10-13T12:41:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T16:41:32","slug":"wulf-and-eadwacer-wh-audens-the-secret-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/?p=60","title":{"rendered":"“Wulf and Eadwacer” & W.H. Auden’s “The Secret Agent”"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Wulf and Eadwacer<\/strong>” by Unknown
\ntrans. from the Old English by Richard Hamer<\/font><\/p>\n

It is as though my people had been given
\nA present. They will wish to capture him
\nIf he comes with a troop. We are apart.
\nWulf is on one isle, I am on another.
\nFast is that island set among the fens.
\nMurderous are the people who inhabit
\nThat island. They will wish to capture him
\nIf he comes with a troop. We are apart.
\nGrieved have I for my Wulf with distant longings.
\nThen was it rainy weather, and I sad,
\nWhen the bold warrior laid his arms about me.
\nI took delight in that and also pain.
\nO Wulf, my Wulf, my longing for your coming
\nHas made me ill, the rareness of your visits,
\nMy grieving spirit, not the lack of food.
\nEadwacer, do you hear me? For a wolf
\nShall carry to the woods our wretched whelp.
\nMen very easily may put asunder
\nThat which was never joined, our song together.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

“The Secret Agent<\/strong>” by W.H. Auden<\/p>\n

Control of the passes was, he saw, the key
\nTo this new district, but who would get it?
\nHe, the trained spy, had walked into the trap
\nFor a bogus guide, seduced by the old tricks.
\nAt Greenhearth was a fine site for a dam
\nAnd easy power, had they pushed the rail
\nSome stations nearer. They ignored his wires:
\nThe bridges were unbuilt and trouble coming.<\/p>\n

The street music seemed gracious now to one
\nFor weeks up in the desert. Woken by water
\nRunning away in the dark, he often had
\nReproached the night for a companion
\nDreamed of already. They would shoot, of course,
\nParting easily two that were never joined.<\/p>\n

(1928)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Wulf and Eadwacer” by Unknown trans. from the Old English by Richard Hamer It is as though my people had been given A present. They will wish to capture him If he comes with a troop. We are apart. Wulf is on one isle, I am on another. Fast is that island set among the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-response","category-that-which-was-never-joined"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":597,"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poem.oftheweek.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}