Auden's Poem: An Analysis Of Musee Des Beaux Arts

Pieter Brueghel was a 16th century Netherlandish Renaissance painter who completed “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” in 1558. His painting was inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus. William Carlos Williams, a Puerto-Rican American poet, wrote a poem inspired by Brueghel’s work in 1960 similarly titled “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”. There is a common theme displayed in both works which both execute and establish this theme with different visual and literary connotations and strengths using differing amounts of information provided through their artistic mediums. which create an effectiveness with the end-all goal being to explain that time will pass by regardless of what is going on in an individual's world even if they want it all to stop at once.

Auden’s poem is a criticism of human perceptions and how we use them to detect, or suppress human suffering. In the first half of the poem Auden “compares versions of indifference by portraying youth and age, animals, and humans” (Shmoop, 2014). In the first few lines of the poem, Auden comments on the perceptions of the “Old Masters” and how they were never wrong in their discernment of suffering. He then compares the old masters perceptions to the perceptions of children and animals and how they are unaware of,

W. H. Auden's poem however is quite different. "Musee des Beaux Arts" is written in free verse, meaning that the poem is essentially "free" of meter, regular rhythm, or a rhyme scheme. Like the specific structural considerations of the sonnet form, the seeming lack of structure which free verse offers is purposely employed and works to illuminate the poem's meaning. In Auden's poem, the long irregular lines, subtly enforced by the irregular end rhyme pattern, create a casual, conversational air more prosaic than poetic, and a somewhat nonchalant tone which is reflective of the compassionate world illustrated in Brueghel's art. For example, in Auden's poem there is a subtle rhyme scheme that is throughout the poem. The poem's first line rhymes with the fourth but the fifth rhymes with the seventh. So although there is a rhyme scheme it is a non-traditional. This concept imitates the painting in the way that when looking at the painting you know that Icarus is drowning somewhere, but you do not see him until you really start concentrating on the images painted on the canvas. The casual, easy-going argument the tone suggests is ironic for the

Auden illustrates how people react to the suffering of others by choosing not to “look” at it. When bad things happen, people turn away and continue on with their lives. For instance it states that “In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away/ Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may/ Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry;” (14-16) In the poem “Musée des Beaux Arts” “…the expensive delicate ship that must have seen/Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, / Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on” (19-21). The sailors saw t

Finally through the use of empathic language, the child’s harsh epiphany is shown “I… wept, owl blind in the early sun.” This implying lies the persona’s is transformation to show a new appreciation for morality. In “Nightfall” the second part of the poem the persona uses a collective pronoun to depict togetherness as a notion of eternity which transcends earthly beings; “we stand in time’s long promised land.” The nostalgic tone presents the audience with Harwood’s perspective of the unyielding process of time and the inevitability of death. This notion is emphasised through parallelism; “we pick our last fruits”, hence utilising showing the reader of the organic discourse which to presents the comparison of the ripeness of fruit to the infinite life cycle of birth and decay. Furthermore, inevitability of death is illuminated through past tense of the self reflective question “Who can be what you were?” implying that persona’s father has ceased to exist. Through the character of the child, it is clearly evident that the poem Father and Child explores the challenging ideas of nostalgia and mortality making the texts valued in the eyes of the

The theme is a tremendously essential part of any poem. The two poems, “Musée des Beaux Arts” and “Waiting for Icarus,” contain similar themes. In “Musée des Beaux Arts” and “Waiting for Icarus” there is a strong theme of abandonment and suffering found throughout both of the poems. In “Musée des Beaux Arts” it is Icarus, the subject of Breughel’s painting, who is being abandoned while drowning in the sea. Auden clearly portrays this when he writes, “In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away / Quite leisurely from the disaster” (lns. 14-15). Auden uses these lines to describe how everyone is ignoring Icarus’ current predicament. Auden examines the disaster even further by stating, “and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen / Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, / Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on” (lns. 19-21). Here, Auden is telling his readers that even though Icarus is in pain because he is drowning; life was carrying on anyway, a clear indicator of Auden’s theme of abandonment and suffering. “Waiting for Icarus” also incorporates the theme of abandonment and suffering, although Rukeyser does not depict it as fatally as Auden does. Rukeyser expresses the theme of abandonment in her poem when she writes, “I have been waiting all day, or perhaps longer. / I would have liked to try those wings myself. / It would have been better than this” (lns. 20-22). Here, Rukeyser depicts the persona as someone who has been waiting a long time for her lover to show up and Rukeyser makes it pretty clear that he is not going to. Therefore, Rukeyser shows her readers that the persona has been tragically abandoned by her lover, which evidently causes the persona a great deal of anguish. Auden and Rukeyser both use the theme of abandonment and suffering in their poems in order to show their readers how painful it is to be discarded by the world.

Whether it be the sea or land, nearly every expanse of the world is dominated by humanity, but there exists one stretch that only dreams can reach in full: the sky. Greek mythology expresses this idea of its unattainable power as home of the gods and realm of the King of the Gods Zeus, but there is one example that solidifies it as the one unreachable territory. That example is Ovid’s story of mortal Daedalus and Icarus, father and son, who with their tinkered wax wings made their attempt at escape from their exile through flight, only for one to succeed and the other to fall in a reckless soar to the searing sun. Naturally, with the universal dream to fly and the tragedy within it, the tale resonates deeply with everyone who reads it, and even today it is clear how impactful the story is to so many with the dozens of poems written in inspiration. One of these poems is Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,

The two poems “Waiting for Icarus” and “Musée des Beaux Arts” are narrative poems. “Musée des Beaux Arts” is a poem written by W. H. Auden and published in 1938. “Waiting for Icarus” is a poem written by Muriel Rukeyser and published in 1973. The poem “Musée des Beaux Arts” is about how no one truly cares when a tragedy is taking place, unless said tragedy concerns them directly. The poem “Waiting for Icarus” tells the story about a woman who is reminiscing being abandoned by her lover while waiting for him at the beach. The two poems have a great deal of similarities and differences between them. Despite the fact that “Musée des Beaux Arts” uses an indifferent tone and irregular rhyme scheme and “Waiting for Icarus” uses a melancholic tone and no discernible rhyme scheme, both poems use the themes of abandonment and suffering and the myth of Icarus in order to convey to their readers how people deal with pain and misery.

This is expressed by the multiple examples of old men whom regret certain aspects of their lives and defy death even when they know their time is up. The speaker is urging his father to fight against old age and death. The meaning and subject of the poem influence the tone and mood. The tone is one of frustration and insistence. Thomas is slightly angry and demanding. His words are not a request, they are an order. The mood of the poem is is serious and solemn due to the poem focusing mainly on the issue of death. This mood and tone is created by words such as “burn”(2), “Grieved”(11) and “rage”(3) along with phrases such as “crying how bright”(7), “forked no lightning”(5), “near death”(13) and “fierce tears”(17). The insistent feeling is also created by the repetition of the lines “Do not go gentle into that good night”(1), and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”(3). The figurative language used also affect how the meaning, tone and mood are interpreted.

Through Ariana’s expression, Chirico emphasizes the mental anguish that Ariana seems to experience as a silent statue. Because Ariana has to remain silent, she perhaps feels a sense of confinement (underscored by Chirico’s use of dark colors and shadows) in her situation of immobility. W.H. Auden’s poem, “Musee Des Beaux Arts,” explores humanity’s indifference to other people’s hardships. The first half of Auden’s poem demonstrates examples of Auden’s observations from Pieter Brueghel paintings. In the first stanza, Auden mentions that “for the miraculous birth, there always must be children who did not specially want it to happen, skating on a pond at the edge of

Great works of literature have been written throughout history. However, The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost have the inept ability to stir the soul and cause a person to examine and re-examine their life. The brilliant descriptions, use of imagery, metaphor and simile give a person a vivid picture of the creation of man and the possibilities for life in the hereafter. This is done, as a person is able to see, full circle, from the beginning of time to the end of time, the consequences of turning away from God. The ability to see a life full circle is apparent through the examination of both of these poems. Although written many years ago, the morals and principles that they convey ring very true

In the poems “The Wanderer” and “The Dream of the Rood,” anonymous authors give way to the idea that an Almighty God will solve every problem a person has by doing two things: 1) drawing upon the memories of a warrior who has lost everything near and dear to him due to war, and 2) entering the dream of a man who has been exiled and isolated. Each piece takes its reader through the trials and tribulations that one may not relate to in this era, yet the reader is still there alongside the character wanting them to find peace with their world and themselves. Initially, it is believed that the characters will overcome their hardships and achieve the happiness they seek. However, as the reader delves deeper into the character’s story, there is an overwhelming sense of incompleteness. What actually happens at the end of each piece is not written in stone - telling us the story is not whole - nor has a conclusion been reached. The intrapersonal thoughts being shared with the reader reveal the obstacles that keep an overall wholeness from occurring.

Auden in this poem compares human beings to stars. This comparison can be criticised as being very unfair as stars are both literally and metaphorically above humans. This is evident upon reading “…That for all they care, I can go to hell.” The fact that he used objects of such importance allows readers to appreciate

Auden uses time in his poetry through several different forms, each for different purpose. Time appears as a major theme expressed in the vocabulary used as a scaffold for the introduction of other major themes such as love and Time is expressed in historical references as well. To underline this impact, Auden uses time imagery, specifically bells and clocks, in order to illustrate his personals feelings, and the inevitable circle of life characterized by ephemerality and continuity respectively.

He invites us into a tour of the “Musée des Beaux Arts”, in order for the reader to understand the “Old Masters’ point of view which is displayed in the paintings. The pronouns ‘its” and “it”(line 3) refer to the word suffering. Then, the following verses are meant to contrast with the suffering people experience. Those verses are descriptions of what is happening while other people are experiencing suffering. Unlike what we can imagine, the people described are not themselves in pain, they are just occupied with their everyday activities: “While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking /dully along”(lines 4 to 5). Also, even a “miraculous birth”(line 7) does not keep people from being self-centered. In the first stanza, the author wants to insist on the fact that meaningful events are occurring, but people are not paying attention to what surrounds them. They just focus on their matter. In the second stanza, Auden names the work of art on which he is making the commentary: Brueghel’s Icarus. Brueghel painted Icarus in such a way that the part of the painting that is relevant to the title of the painting remains discrete. A disaster is occurring. Indeed, Icarus has fallen from the sky, and is now drowning. We can see his legs outside the water. Still, no one seems to care. The ship “that must have seen”(line 21) Icarus’ legs “sailed calmly on”. Auden here personifies the ship. This