"Yes, these are the dog days, Fortunatus": W.H. Auden and the Latin Poet Venantius Fortunatus

Abstract

Abstract: W.H. Auden's "Under Sirius" (1949), constructed as an engaging interrogation of the Late Latin poet Venantius Fortunatus, has long been recognized as a vehicle for Auden's own self-examination. Yet, despite the importance of "Under Sirius" to the study of Auden's self-awareness and development as a poet, this poem's relationship to Fortunatus's poetry has not previously been explored in depth. A sustained close reading of "Under Sirius" together with its informing texts reveals that Auden has appropriated significant material from Fortunatus's poems. Rather than viewing Venantius Fortunatus as a minor poet who served as an object lesson in unrealized potential, Auden expected an informed reader to know that ultimately this poet had risen above the decadence of his times to fulfill his artistic promise.