An obscene poem in an underground magazine and why WH Auden missed out as Poet Laureate despite many believing he was the most important wordsmith of his age
- Many academics widely regarded WH Auden as the most important living poet
- Ross McWhirter contacted the Palace over a little known but ‘hardcore’ poem
When a new Poet Laureate had to be chosen in 1972, WH Auden was widely seen as the obvious choice.
Many academics regarded Auden – known for works including September 1, 1939, and Stop All The Clocks, which featured in Four Weddings and a Funeral – as the most important living poet, and the bookmakers made him 5-4 favourite.
But television personality Ross McWhirter was so alarmed at the prospect that he contacted Buckingham Palace to draw its attention to a little-known but ‘hardcore’ pornographic poem published under Auden’s name in an ‘underground’ magazine, government files released today reveal.
Fearing Auden’s appointment would lead to embarrassment for the Queen, Mr McWhirter, who co-founded the Guinness World Records with his twin brother Norris, wrote to the most senior officer of the Royal Household to alert him to the potential scandal.
Many academics regarded Auden – known for works including September 1, 1939, and Stop All The Clocks, as the most important living poet
Mr McWhirter, a former Tory parliamentary candidate, told the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Maclean: ‘My concern is simply that should this candidate be appointed either in ignorance of this or without his first being given a chance to disprove authorship, then the subversive underground press are almost certain to republish this pornographic “poem” under the byline “by the Poet Laureate” to the enormous potential embarrassment of Her Majesty’s Household and of decent-minded citizens.’
He said he could not ‘legally send the offending matter’ – a poem published in 1969 – by post, but could meet in person to show it to them.
Mr McWhirter, who appeared regularly on BBC show Record Breakers with his twin, said ‘simple duty’ had motivated him to act.
The Palace replied that as the Poet Laureate was appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister, Mr McWhirter should contact Sir John Hewitt, the civil servant who led the appointment of public figures on behalf of then-prime minister Ted Heath. Mr McWhirter met Sir John and showed him the poem.
Afterwards, Sir John said in a memo the poem, which describes a sex act in great detail, ran to ‘about 30 verses of an utterly revolting character’.
Television personality Ross McWhirter feared Auden’s appointment would lead to embarrassment for the Queen
The memo added: ‘Mr McWhirter said there was no evidence that Auden had in fact written the poem but there was equally no evidence that he had denied authorship’.
Sir John told Mr McWhirter, who was murdered by the IRA outside his London home in 1975, that Auden had in any case been ‘effectively ruled out’ as a candidate as he had moved to America and in the 1940s become a US citizen, making him ineligible.
Auden said in an interview at the time that he had no interest in becoming Poet Laureate and had no intention of changing his nationality back to British so he would be eligible. The post went instead to Sir John Betjeman – and Auden died of heart failure the following year.
Scholars regard the poem as the work of Auden in the 1940s, when he had told friends he was writing a ‘purely pornographic poem’.
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