A Joke in the 'Punch'
Auden alludes to a cartoon published in the 'Punch' by A. E. Housman. To depict the format of the cartoon in his essay, Auden uses his skillful diction and exemplifies the plot. In the said joke two middle aged man are seen strolling in the spring season and a part of their conversation is portrayed to satirize Romantic poetry. Auden refers to it as it was published in the magazine.
A Chain of Images
Auden uses a chain of images to illustrate his point regarding poetic imagination in of his essays. He refers to the images in such a manner that it makes his prosaic language a little bit poetic. He writes, "A sacred being may be attractive or repulsive-a swan or an octopus-beautiful or ugly-a toothless hag or a fair young child-good or evil-a Beatrice or a Belle Dame Sans Merci-historical fact or fiction-a person met on the road or an image encountered in a story or a dream-it may be noble or something unmentionable in a drawing room..."
The Chair
Auden refers to the title of poet laureate by using the term "chair". In his essay, Auden says that the critics or poets holding that position in England habe somehow forgotten about its importance. His pictorial verbiage exemplifies the importance of the chair at large. It is not a mere chair, it comes with certain responsibilities to perform and obligations to follow. Ignoring the facts and playing by the rule of power and money, doesn't make a critic valuable to the generation. They are just wasting their time and also others' by sitting on the chair without performing their duties.
The Globe
While discussing the works of Shakespeare, Auden refers to the Globe theatre. He uses the imagery of the Globe to illustrate the magnificence of Elizabethan culture. The Globe is the pinnacle of the era, and the dramas performed there should be the source of writers of Auden's time. He uses the imagery of the theatre to remind his readers about the essence of a flourishing period of his country and at the same time he tries to make the contemporary writers aware of the value of their culture. In this way the image of the Globe becomes significant in Auden's essay.
