Wystan Hugh Auden

Gare Du Midi

Gare Du Midi - meaning Summary

Arrival with Ominous Consequence

The poem sketches a small, tense scene at a railway station where an unremarkable express arrives from the south. A crowd waits; no official welcome appears, yet one incoming face commands attention through an unsettling expression. Snow falls as he steps out with a small case and moves briskly into the city. The speaker suggests his presence brings an ominous change, implying that the city\'s troubling future may have begun with his arrival.

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A nondescript express in from the South, Crowds round the ticket barrier, a face To welcome which the mayor has not contrived Bugles or braid: something about the mouth Distracts the stray look with alarm and pity. Snow is falling, Clutching a little case, He walks out briskly to infect a city Whose terrible future may have just arrived.

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