Wystan Hugh Auden ( February 21 1907 â `` September 29 1973 ) was a British born American poet . Wystan Hugh Auden ( ; 21 February 1907 â `` 29 September 1973 ) , who published as W. H. Auden , was an Anglo-American poet , born in England , later an American citizen , regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century .