SAMPLE OUTLINE TEMPLATE
FOR POETRY PRESENTATION
CONTENTS:
THESIS
SENSE WITH TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND PURPOSE/EFFECT
SENSES WITH TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND PURPOSE/EFFECT
STYLE WITH TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND PURPOSE/EFFECT
STRUCTURE WITH TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND PURPOSE/EFFECT
SOUND WITH TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND PURPOSE/EFFECT
ACTIVITY/DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
“As I Walked Out One Evening”
W.H. Auden
Literary Commentary
Presented by: All group members’ first and last name
Class Section:
THESIS:
I n “A s I Wa l k e d O u t O n e E v e n i n g ,” A u d e n c o n t r a s t s t h e
fantasy of romantic love with reality to demonstrate
that idealizing the perfect kind of love is not lasting or
worthwhile; what is most important is the kind of
imperfect and realistic love for one another here on
e a r t h b e c a u s e w e c a n’ t w a s t e t h e t i m e w e h a v e o n
s o m e t h i n g t h a t d o e s n’ t e x i s t .
Sense:
meaning and
language
Purpose/Effect:
Auden wants the reader to
understand the need to replace
idealistic and romanticized love
with the imperfect and natural
love, and the shift in tone
starting in stanza 6 is most
effective for communicating the
shift closer to the end of love.
Auden includes a strand of
important words related to
ending or breaking the façade of
idealized love because our lives
are so short and the love that we
need most, is most worthwhile
- crooked or imperfect love – is
often overlooked or
underappreciated.
 Speaker: Observer on his walk hearing lovers
proclaim their love
 Point of view: First person
 Tone: Idealistic to realistic



“Love has no ending” (8)
“But all the clocks in the city / Began to whirr and chime: (2122)
“And Time will have his fancy / To-morrow or to-day” (31-32)
 Diction:
 ending (8), leaks (30), drifts (34), breaks (35), plunge (38),
knocks (41): strand of defeat emphasizes the facade of a
perfect ever-lasting love
 Repetition:
 Love x 4, Lover(s) x 2: love is what we seek and search for; our
lives revolve around it
 Clock x 2, Time x 5, Chime(ing) x 2: reminder of our time;
nothing is endless; contradicts the line “love has no ending”
(8)
 You x 6: the message is direct
 Crooked x 2: usually the focus is on the romanticized and
perfect love we seek, but the imperfect love is the one that is
overlooked but that which we need most
Senses:
imagery and
symbols
 Nature imagery throughout the
poem:

Purpose/Effect:
The imagery furthers
Auden’s message of
people being part of the
natural world and living
realistically rather than
something far removed
from reality.
Auden’s description of
“shadow” and “cough”
symbolize the darker,
harsher side of love that
aligns to the “crooked”
hearts/people later in
the poem.


“fields of harvest wheat” (4): comparison of people to
fields which are typically filled with farmers’ crops to be
cut and harvested indicates we are part of the natural
world and we can’t transcend the natural world
“brimming river” (5): overflowing isn’t sustainable – it
will have to drain or deflate; romanticized/idealistic love
isn’t practical; a comparison is made later on about “life
leaks away” (line 30) – the exaggeration of lovers and the
fantasizing of a perfect kind of love must deflate
‘Into many a green valley / Drifts the appalling snow;”
(33-34): it’s inevitable that love is tainted or damaged
from the pure concept we have
 Shadow and cough symbolize
harsh reality :

“Time watches from the shadow / And
coughs when you would kiss” (27-28)
 Hyperbole :

Style: poetry
techniques
Purpose/Effect:
Auden uses
exaggeration to show
the absurd delusion that
lovers have. Although it
can seem romantic on
the surface, “salmon
sing[ing] in the street”
is nonsensical.
The ironic statement
followed by the lovers’
disappearance
highlights the need for
realistic love of one
another.
exaggeration of love
“ Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,” (10-12)

“I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry” (13-14)

 Irony :

“Love has no ending” (8)

Statement followed by love’s undoing and disappearance
 Stanza pattern throughout the
Structure: form,
organization,
and pattern
poem:


quatrain (each stanza is 4 lines long)
“and” is repeated in early all of the
stanzas

Purpose/Effect:
Auden uses a consistent fourline stanza pattern throughout
to emphasize time’s continued
presence and that it is the
superior power of our world.
Auden’s structure reinforces the
limits of our world and the
lovers who were caught up in
the fantasy “were gone” by the
end of the evening. The passage
of time from the start of the
poem and taking walk one
evening to “late, late” and the
“clocks had ceased”
demonstrates the end of time.
Reinforces the qualities of time’s presence in the poem
and in our lives, reminding us of what little time we
have, and that it should not be wasted on the fantasy of
a perfect love, but rather on loving and living with our
imperfect selves and neighbors
 Narrative Structure

Beginning, middle, and end

“As I walked out one evening” (title) to hearing lovers
sing to time destroying it all, the lovers are gone
 “It was late, late in the evening,
 The lovers they were gone;
 The clocks had ceased their chiming,
 And the deep river ran on.” (56-59)
Sound:
musicality and
auditory
techniques
 Onomatopoeia:
 “whirr” and “chime” (22)

Purpose/Effect:
Auden’s use of sound
effects makes Time
more pronounced to the
point that it has a voice
in the poem
The alliteration draws
attention to the lovers’
delusion of perfect and
ideal love.
Another “voice” is becoming part of the poem,
invading the space and story of the lovers. Time,
especially being personified with a capital T and
being capable of “watch[ing] [you] from the
shadow” creates a sense of terror and impending
doom or end. Time is threatening, especially when
it talks about coughing, or interrupting your kiss.
Time ruins it – it will cause the end of that
moment.
 Alliteration:
 “And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.” (22-24)

The repetition of the “s” sound paired with the
vastness of the sky and movement of geese furthers
the extent of the lovers’ delusion that their love will
continue far beyond the reaches of the earth
Class Activity and/or Discussion
 Work in partners:
 Role 1: You are observing or overhearing the perfect students.
Describe the ideal version of a student using hyperboles.


Start with “I heard a student say…”
Role 2: You are yourself (inevitably, not a perfect student) that
is realistic about being a flawed student.

Start with “But…”
 Discussion question:
 How does the contrast show us something about the idealistic vs. the
realistic? How does the progression of ideas contribute to the
development of the theme(s)?
Conclusion
Despite humans’ tendency to believe in a
perfect love that transcends the natural
world, Auden demonstrates that the
illusion, and delusion, is far from the
reality of the kind of worthwhile love
that is needed in our short time on
earth.