Volume 21, Number 20 · December 12, 1974
THE POET AND 'THE RAKE'
By Robert Craft
As soon as Wystan Auden accepted Igor Stravinsky's invitation to stay at his home in Hollywood, the composer and his wife began to search for a clue to the most important fact for them to know about the poet: his height. Would he be too tall to sleep on the couch in the den? Finding no hint in his writings, the future hosts turned to a photograph for possible prosopographical leads and reached the conclusion that probably he would not fit. This was confirmed when he crossed the doorstep, at which point Stravinsky was obliged to improvise—something he would never do in music—by extending the 'bed' with a chair and pillows to accommodate his guest's legs and feet.
Feature, 3566 words
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