The Russian Formalist Approach to W.H. Auden’s As I Walked Out One Evening

Abstract

Poetic expressions are associated with focus on emotional depth and biographical interpretations to convey personal or political meanings. However, when examined through the lens of Russian Formalism, a text reveals a deeper formal pattern and linguistic design that defamiliarizes the ordinary perception. Therefore, the present study is centered upon formalism to analyze W.H. Auden’s poem As I Walked Out One Evening. The analysis aims to uncover the poetic techniques and formal structures that produce artistic estrangement and slow down perception, shifting focus from meaning to method. I.A. Richard’s model of close reading has been employed to closely observe diction, imagery, and structure, and a qualitative research approach has been adopted to examine the internal mechanics of the poem. The results reveal that Auden’s use of rhythm, time motifs, and irony resist automatic interpretation and creates an aesthetic experience that aligns with Shklovsky’s formalist principles. Thus, the poem stands not only as a lyrical narrative but as a constructed literary artifact designed to renew perception.