Musee des Beaux Arts

Musee des Beaux Arts
About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
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 the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
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,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; 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.

Paraphrase-
The poem “Musse des Beaux Arts” by Auden makes an allusion to the Greek mythological story of Icarus. The story of Icarus, just like this poem, is about suffering and failure. Auden’s poem is about failure being both ignored and noticed by people. In the end of the poem, Auden says that the ship noticed a boy, Icarus, falling from the sky, and then, the ship had somewhere to go; the ship is presumably headed in a direction far from the boy. At the same time, the boy is also being ignored by the ploughman, who believes the boy’s failure is not important. The message in the poem is that life, no matter how extraordinary, will simply continue.

Initial Impression-
Suffering the same as they say
Elders understand suffering
For each person, the situation is different
It happens when you least expect it, whether it be eating, walking, or opening a window
The elders are patiently waiting for something to strike while the children who don’t really care ponder along
Things go on, but people never forget that the people will risk their lives no matter the situation
An example is what happens with Icarus: people ignore the man falling from the sky.
The ploughman hears the splash but doesn’t bother to see the failure of Icarus
The made the failure very clear to the naked eye
The ship saw the failure, but had somewhere to go.

SWIFTT-
SW- The poem is composed of one long stanza that consists of two sentences. The author words choice creates a vivid picture of a specific situation.
I- The imagery the author creates with his choice of words creates a picture. The author, for example, says, “he sun shone as it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green water.” The author is very effective at using adjectives as a manner to describe certain objects. Additionally, the author describes specific objects fluently in order for the readers to visualize the scene clearly. When he uses words like “expensive” and “delicate” to describe the ship, the author creates a concrete image of an elegant ship sailing with the wind.
F- Although figurative language is not omnipresent throughout the poem, the author presents the readers with metaphorical interpretation of the continuation of life. Also, the poem has an allusion to the the Greek myth of Icarus.
T- The author observes the scene while using an appreciative, reflective tone. He makes some personal comments that create appreciation for the events in the picture he is describing. For instance, he says “amazing” when describing the epic failure of Icarus.
T- The theme of the poem is that as extraordinary events unfold, people are only temporarily affected, and soon after the events, people will continue with their lives.

Conclusion:
Having analyzed the poem, I now clearly understand the deeper meaning behind the poem: Life will continue regardless of the events of the day. My initial impression was not far off from my conclusion. But after analyzing the imagery and tone present in the poem, I have come to appreciate the effort the author puts towards his work. The author, at first glance, seems to only describe a scene; but in fact, the author is making a deep comment about life through a well-thought-out interpretation of a painting.