W.H. Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts"

Text:
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.


Initial Reaction:
The poem is about different perspectives in the world. Many people are selfish and only recognize their perspective; they don’t realize, or particular care, that there are billions of people in the world, each of which has his or her own feelings and insight. Simultaneously, individuals are dealing with different circumstances. The last stanza describes Breughel’s Icarus, which I believe refers to man’s selfishness and ignorance of other people. The ploughman and the sailors saw the man drowning, but did not give him their attention nor their assistance.

Paraphrasing:
They were always right about human suffering,

The wise men: they truly understood

Its place in humanity: how it occurs

While someone else is preoccupied with another task;

How when the elderly are patiently awaiting

Their savior, there are

People who did not want it to happen, skating

On a frozen pond:

The wise men cannot forget

That suffering continues until its finished

In some place, somewhere

Where things continue their uninterrupted lives and the person responsible

Doesn’t notice the martyrdom

For example, in Breughel’s "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus": everything disregards

The disaster; the ploughman

Heard a man fall in the water and his plea for help,

But this was unimportant to the ploughman; the sun shone

On the legs of the man as he drowned,

And the sailor(s) that must have also noticed

The figure falling out of the sky and into the water

Were preoccupied with their own matters and casually sailed on.

SWIFTT:
Syntax/Word Choice:

Although the first three lines of "Musee des Beaux Arts" appear to have the same meter, the poem is largely unstructured and chaotic: there is no rhyme scheme and the lines, as well as the stanzas, vary in length from one another. Auden, in addition, uses inversion and parallelism in "Musee des Beaux Arts." Inversion is evident in the opening phrase, "About suffering they were never wrong, / The old Masters" (1-2), whereas line 4 contains parallel structure. In comparison to the works of other poets, Auden does not use many adjectives. The few adjectives included are mainly to emphasize the ignorance of the onlookers

Imagery:

Auden utilizes imagery in "Musee des Beaux Arts." The reader can visualize the old masters waiting, the children skating, and the dogs and horse going on with their simple lives. Additionally, the second stanza describes a famous painting by Breughel so that the reader can form an image of the work in his mind.

Figurative Language:

As for figurative language, there is an idiom--"run its course"--in line 10 of the poem. The poem contains no examples of metaphor, simile, or personification.

Tone:

The tone in "Musee des Beaux Arts" is casual, as shown by his prosaic speech. Auden adopts this conversational approach to the poem in order to lighten the mood of the poem and to perhaps make up for the fact that he is discussing a serious subject.

Theme:

Mankind is ignorant to the suffering of others.

Conclusion:

My thoughts on "Musee des Beaux Arts" are similar to my initial thoughts on the work. Though the work is prosaic and its tone is mostly conversational, it discusses very serious issues: suffering and ignorance. According to Auden, "the dreadful martyrdom must run its course" (10). Others either do not recognize this suffering or are uninterested. Out of selfishness or ignorance, people often look the other way and continue with their lives, as opposed to offering assistance or demonstrating any type of interest.