Epitaphe Sur Un Tyran.(Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker

This poem is on Poem Hunter 66/ 73 W.H. Auden.
Auden was living in Berlin in the 1930s, so the tyrant whom he writes about is probably Adolf Hitler. However, the poem has wide application, and Auden could have had another tyrant in mind. 'Respectable senators' suggests the U.S.A. Or it could be a typical, imagined tyrant.
This man sought perfection on his own terms and any poetry he wrote was simple. He knew human nature well, and, of course, he knew all about armies and fleets of warships. The senators, all sycophants, would laugh too when the tyrant laughed; but if the leader cried, 'children died in the streets'. The last two lines make, I think, an excellent ending. Could not be better.