Stephen Spender

Stephen Spender was born in 1909 in London and studied at Oxford, where he became associated with Auden, MacNeice, and Lewis, sharing their political views. He found himself in Spain during the Civil War and, like MacNeice, sided with the Republicans. He believed in politics as a means or, rather, a framework for the application of the activities of the mind: science, art, religion. Nevertheless, his best poetry is found in moments depicting industrial life within a, we might say, neo-romantic context. Spender remains a personal, lyrical poet who, as he himself said, sought a "universal experience through a subjective perspective." In recent years, his poetic output diminished in favor of his publishing activities—he was the editor of the well-known literary magazine "Encounter" for many years. His poem, "The Express," can be considered representative of his work.