Comment 9 of 9, added on November 4th, 2009 at 4:22 AM.
intro to an analysis i did
“Musee de Beaux Arts” was written by Auden in December 1938, after a visit to a museum of fine arts in Belgium, is inspired by a painting called ‘The Fall of Icarus’ by Brueghel. The poem explores the indifference of people to death, and the continuance of life and time after such a death.
The poem is made of two stanzas, the first containing 13 lines, and the second containing 8 lines. Whilst the poem shuns and regular rhyming scheme, and is in free verse, rhyme is present within the poem, yet the varying line lengths serve to distract the reader from the rhymes, and create a conversational, ambling tone and feel to the poem.


apologies for what looks like spam, i am nearly finished my literature course, so i am offloading all my notes to the internet for other students to plagarise and draw ideas from.
throughout my course i found it difficult to find accurate, if any, information on Auden's poetry, so I hope you don't mind my sharing!

yoyo from Australia

Comment 7 of 9, added on April 21st, 2009 at 9:36 PM.

In the poem Musee des Beaux Arts, W. H. Auden reflects on the idea that personal suffering is subjective, it has little impact on the outside world. The structure of the poem goes from a general principle and develops into an extended analogy. The poem’s purpose, through apathy, is to take away the romance in tragedy and suffering and comment on it as if it where an everyday occurrence. It is enriched and effective because of its theme, its use of rhetoric, and its historical context.
The poem begins by referring to the “Old Masters” of the renaissance period, establishing initial credibility to the theme. It then goes on to present the “never wrong” view of suffering. This view is presented through various juxtapositions, metaphors, antithesis, litotes and analogies.
In context, the poem was written as World War 2 was about to begin, the Jews in Europe where suffering under Hitler’s lengthening shadow and no one seemed to notice. During this time, the U. S. was practicing it’s isolationist policy, European nations that weren’t directly affected remained quiet and life went on as it always had. The poem might have been the fruit of Auden’s application of Breughel’s “Icarus”(¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬which was located in Musée des Beaux Arts) to the international situation and the beginning of the holocaust.
Auden’s poem does not contain any specific rhyme or meter schemes; this is done with the intention of developing ideas more freely and yet presenting them with a lyrical touch. The poem uses simple words and a casual tone to convey its meaning: life goes on. The theme is introduced and developed in the first thirteen lines, and then Auden presents an extended analogy. He refers to a painting in which The Greek myth of Icarus falls out of the sky and into the ocean because his wings melted away. This situation is portrayed as common, and is not looked upon as romantic. The ploughman remains apathetic, the sun still shines, the ship sails on, and everything continues as it was.
It is not clear whether the poem is meant to be a critique or just to develop an idea but Auden does successfully transmit his theme into the reader‘s conscience and make it roll. It is also not clear whether Auden incorporated a Religious, mainly Christian, aspect to the poem (miraculous birth, dreadful martyrdom), but the poem does contain a divine aspect to it.
In a short but effective poem, Auden communicates a strong belief. This is done through strong rhetoric and concrete examples. The poem brings to view the pointlessness of the suffering “under the sun” and the casual aspect of what we give romantic value to and define as tragedy.


Sam from Brazil