February 2007

Notable and Quotable: W.H. Auden

February 21 is the birth centennial of critic and poet Wystan Hugh Auden, considered to be one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Quotations from Auden appear in more than 30 entries in the Unabridged. We've picked out an even dozen; three of them are words now labeled archaic, but all have the ring of the poet.

It's easy to check on writers whose words are quoted in the dictionary. Choose your reference, then click on Advanced Search. Type the last name of the author in the Authors Quoted field, and click on Search.

abrupt verb, archaic ("to break off")
"let brazen bands abrupt their din"

accuse verb
"where thought accuses and feeling mocks"

better noun ("a superior especially in merit or rank")
"I like novels to be about my betters, in body, wit, energy, breeding, or bank balance"

bright adjective
"those bright mornings when you whistle with a light heart"

egoist noun
"to a selfish or proud man, triumph is pleasant and defeat painful, but to an egoist, both are equally interesting, for what matters is not the content of the experience but the fact that it is his"

lapse verb ("to glide gently along")
"lolled with their lovers by lapsing brooks"

lime verb, archaic ("copulate")
"how the raging lion is to lime with the yearning unicorn"

mosey verb
"a mild river that moseyed at will through parks and plowland"

numinous adjective
"all quests are concerned with some numinous object, the waters of life, the Grail, buried treasure"

quell noun, archaic ("killing; slaughter")
"sooner than we would choose, bread will melt, water will burn, and the great quell begin"

their adjective ("his or her")
"a lampshade . . . too hideous for anyone in their senses to buy"

umpteen adjective
"tonight, like umpteen other nights"


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