The tone and style of W.H. Auden's poetry has long been associated with DC's Batman.
The character made his comic book debut in 1939, when Auden was most prolific, and the poet depicted the same grimy image of urban life that so often seeps into portrayals of Gotham City.
Auden also wrote an essay titled "The Joker in the Pack," where he discussed Shakespeare's Othello, and described Iago as a mischievous lover of havoc with no wider motivation... which lands eerily close to the villain Batman fans know as The Joker.
Auden's "September 1, 1939." The words perfectly align with the current landscape
"Waves of anger and fear" from a "psychopath god" alludes to Scarecrow's grand plan for Gotham City,
while "those to whom evil is done do evil in return" applies equally to Jason Todd, Dick Grayson and Jonathan Crane.
The poem also explores the relationship between citizen and police in a way that resonates within Batman mythology, almost as if it were written especially for the corrupt GCPD.
W.H. Auden's "Musée des Beaux Arts" heavily influenced his Batman V Superman script
This poem explores the considerable distance between god and man - one species that doesn't suffer, and another that does.
Superman is comparable to the poem's Icarus ("a boy falling out of the sky"),
while Batman represents the "dreadful martyrdom" of the "human position."
The bitterness within "Musée des Beaux Arts" underlines Bruce Wayne's attitude toward Superman during their DCEU meeting (until he realizes their moms share the same name, of course).
