Wealth & Money Quote by W. H. Auden

Auden points to a stubborn inversion of value: culture often rewards the explanation of art more than the art itself. The poet becomes more marketable when he lectures about craft, writes essays on poetics, or tours the festival circuit, than when he quietly makes poems. That imbalance exposes how economies measure worth. What is easily packaged, scheduled, and ticketed tends to fetch a price; the poem, being elusive and slow to sell, rarely does.

The observation carries the bite of experience. By the mid-20th century, the old systems of patronage were gone, little magazines paid almost nothing, and university appointments, reviews, and talks provided steady income. The rise of criticism and the lecture circuit created a parallel marketplace where the poet’s authority could be monetized as voice and persona. A culture fixated on commentary, expertise, and public performance thus treats the poet less as a maker than as a spokesperson for making.

Yet the sadness Auden names is not mere nostalgia. It is an ethical discomfort with a feedback loop that privileges meta-discourse over creation. When talking about art pays better than making it, the temptation grows to tailor one’s work toward discussability, to craft manifestos rather than poems, to optimize for panel topics over imagination. The result is a shift from discovery to explanation, from risk to polish.

The problem has only sharpened in contemporary media. Podcasts, workshops, MFA economies, think pieces, and branded craft advice can eclipse the poem’s quiet labor. None of these are inherently suspect; teaching and criticism can deepen understanding and sustain artists. Auden’s sting lands when they replace a livable economy for the work itself. His line asks readers and institutions to re-balance incentives: buy the book, fund the journal, pay for time, not just the talk. To honor poetry is to make space where making the poem is the center, and where explanation supports, rather than supplants, creation.