W. H. Auden's 'The Fall Of Icarus'

To start with, Brueghel’s painting, paints an image of how he depicts Ovid’s story, “The Fall of Icarus.” However, he illustrates how the death of Icarus was unnoticed. Looking back to the painting, it portrays Icarus legs sticking out of the water, yet nobody seen. Also, it shows the farmer ploughing, the fisherman fishing, and the boat sailing. Nevertheless, they all had their backs turned from the previously incident, the falling of Icarus. All in all, the individuals went on about their day and the death of Icarus was unnoticed.

The painting shows Icarus drowning and no one realizes. Which make the story sad and if Daedalus's was in the painting it would be even sadder because. The father sees his son drowning and can't do anything and what the father feels when he's seeing his own son drowning that makes the painting sadder. The moral is that sometimes when someone is suffering other people can be in front of that person and won't realize.

In the poem “Icarus” by Edward Field is alluding to the myth of Icarus and Daedalus which is set in a contemporary setting. The poem takes a spin on the myth were instead of Icarus drowning, he is set in today 's world as the fall of the great hero, nothing but an ordinary man. It reveals that Icarus cannot handle being just ordinary and “wishes he had drowned.” (line 30). Through imagery, diction and irony Fields uses a contemporary setting to convey the life of Icarus who is living as a man who once achieved greatness.

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,

Shaffer, the poem uses nature against Icarus. This poem is about what it would be like to be Icarus while he was taking his last breath. Was Icarus mad? Was he blaming his father? Was he regretful? These were all questions that were addressed throughout the poem. The mythical poem states, “Watching white feathers flutter upward, curse the wax as a fair weathered friend… Did he rail at the sun… he laughed, and admitted that even had he known of the many failings of fathers and feathers, he would have done it anyway” (Shaffer 20). This piece of evidence displays the importance of Icarus flying to close to the sun and dying. It shows how he killed himself along with the nature. The nature of the myth and poem plays the role of freedom and death. The feathers signify freedom because of being able to flutter and fly, while the sun signifies death and misfortune. Even though Icarus died, he died being the adventurous foolish person he is. With nature not on his side, it shows how when you do not follow rules, you may end up being in serious trouble even if it was fun. If you get too senseless, you can end up having a big problem. Overall, in the poem “Icarus” by Wendy A. Shaffer, nature is the root of Icarus’

Why do we suffer? Humans have spent years searching for meaning in the grievous events that happen in life. Some find comfort through religions that give reason to tragedy and teach that suffering is not always eternal. Others just accept that this is the way the world is and then do their best to adapt to that reality. Religions and philosophies, like Buddhism and stoicism, may try to teach its followers how to end their pain, because no one likes hurting. However, suffering is not necessarily a bad thing. It is painful, but suffering can bring new levels of meaning and appreciation to happiness. Pain is inevitable for anyone who cares about the people or things in his/her life. But if we were to eliminate suffering then life would become meaningless, because real joy is not possible without the risk of pain, and those who find contentment after enduring some tribulations appreciate their joy much more.

Suffering. All of us have encountered suffering and many of us wish we never would have to again; however, what many people do not see is that since we have suffering, we have happiness. One can not exist without the other. Without this feeling of suffering or unhappiness, we would not be able to understand happiness or even know it as a pleasant feeling, since we would never have experienced a life of unhappiness. Journalist David Brooks in “What Suffering Does” and Buddhist Monk Matthieu Ricard in “The Alchemy of Suffering” gave their own input upon the relationship between suffering and happiness. They seem to mention how every person endures suffering, but what is important is not the suffering itself, but the way a person changes or reacts to the suffering. While one may hate suffering, we have to understand that one can not be happy without having suffered. The characterization of emotional suffering as “rewarding” to people fails to account for individuals who have undergone the death of their spouse and have come out of it a changed person. In fact, in the 21st century, pervasive media advertising through television advances western cultural expectations of “perfection”, that in part advance suffering.

I believe suffering results from our separation from God. He is holy, all-powerful, all-loving, all that is good. Each day I find myself doing things that move me away from Him. Every time I sin, the world becomes a little bit worse. I can do no good thing apart from God. The more I separate myself from Him, the more likely I am to cause someone else harm or pain.

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.

In Ovid’s “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus”, Ovid uses characterization to make the characters realistic and vivid and to reveal plot through the characters’ actions, thoughts, speech and physical appearance. Without the characterization of Daedalus and Icarus, understanding “The Story of Daedalus and Icarus” completely is not possible. Ovid hides important pieces of the plot in the text, and wants the readers to reveal the true meaning of the story by looking into the characteristics of the main characters, Daedalus and Icarus. With the view of their wants and responsibilities, the story becomes clear to the reader and the purpose of this story in a poem is revealed.

There are many different perspectives on suffering with regard to its meaning, significance and purposes. Pope John Paul II (1984) wrote "On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering", that it centres on the notion of redemptive suffering - to remit one’s sins in order to save the soul from eternal suffering (damnation). Personally, I believe suffering can have a purpose. It can enrich life by giving us knowledge of both the good and the bad, arguably making us more appreciative of what we have . Indeed, James Stewart (2005) purports, "If there were no suffering, would there be compassion? If there were no discipline and hardship, would we ever learn patience and endurance? Construct a universe with no trouble in it and immediately you banish some of the finest qualities in the world."

“Suffering” is a word which carries negative connotations, used to incite pity, empathy or fear. Why would it not? Is suffering not simply agony, defined justly by the Oxford Dictionary as “the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship” (“Suffering)? Yet, we accept suffering as part of life, a fundamental aspect that defines living. Nietzsche tells us that the very act of living is suffering itself, but to survive is to find value in that suffering. Yet, what sort of value can be attached to an idea so negative? Pico Iyer’s editorial in the New York Times explores the value of suffering, likening suffering to passion and “[p]assion with the plight of other’s makes for ‘compassion’” (________________).I began to think upon the cohesive

Albert Camus is known all over the world as a French philosopher who contributed to the ideas of absurdism. He is also known for his philosophical literature. More specifically I want to focus my attention to what some people may call a book that influenced many generations. This name of the book is called “The Fall”. In this book, the reader views a different perspective of life from a character called monsieur Jean-Baptiste Clamence.

Human suffering happens every day, everywhere, in many types and ways all around us. We do not always see it, but that does not mean it does not exist. When we do see it exist we commonly ask ourselves, "Does human suffering have meaning?" I can answer this question easily. Yes, it does have meaning. I can answer this because of the four readings we read. However, as I examine this question deeper I see that the four readings have different ideas on "meaning" or the reason for suffering. Looking at the definition of the verb (to) suffer, "feel or undergo pain; sustain damage or loss," we see that suffering is something that can happen because of more than one action. Each of the readings explained a different

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