W.h. Auden's &quote;the Healing Fountain&quote; Read Through A. Aviram's Theory of Poetic Rhythm

Although Auden has often been hailed as the 20th century's master of metre and most outstanding practitioner of traditional poetic forms, his metrical art still remains a mystery, as far as its real significance is concerned.

This book sheds new light on the enticing appeal of formal poetry which induced Auden into composing in almost every possible stanza form.

In order to work out a 'new' appreciative assessment of Auden's formal art, the book uses Amittai Aviram's 'Theory of Poetic Rhythm,' which transcends the common literary critical process, based on the rhetorical assessment of rhythm in poetry.

Aviram's theory clearly revolutionises our common methods of interpretation regarding rhythm rather than meaning as the starting point in reading poetry; it is the poem's ideas and theme which express and strengthen rhythm, not the other way round.