The painting “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” depicts a beautiful birds-eye view of the landscape. While demonstrating the working lifestyle of the seemingly middle-class individuals in focus, it also projects the vivid appearance of the area as a result of such efforts. Alone, the painting seems to be only an image of a typical day with minor concentration on the human struggling in the water. “Musée des Beaux Arts” enhances the interpretation of the painting as it reveals the details of aspects of it. The poem harps on the presence of human suffering and how it is often ignored by others who could possibly be in a position to help but choose not to. Without the assistance of the other resource it is difficult to interpret the poem or the
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A seemingly insignificant portion of the painting suddenly became the prominent aspect of both works. Not only did the reference provide a visual connection between the two, it also thoroughly transformed my perception on the two works as a whole. At first I was under the impression that Icarus was previously a member of this lower class yet died trying to escape it, that is why his peers refused to save him. I soon realized how inaccurate my interpretation of the hardships of the workers was as Auden was referring to the men witnessing suffering of others in the painting. Whether their prior experiences they understood so well are from witnessing or encountering such tragedies, these men are accustomed to such forms of incident that they pay no mind. Auden is unclear as to how the “Old Masters” have such extensive experience with the matter yet describes their reasons for a lack of assistance. Line seventeen demonstrates this reasoning when stating “it was not an important failure; the sun shone”, excusing the refusal to assist based on the lack of personal benefit. The fact that the sailors and ploughman were most likely made aware of the incident yet did not is what forced me to realize who actually endured the suffering Auden discussed at the beginning of the poem. It seems to imply that these men are so busy with their own lives that they only consider others for their own benefit, this is apparent when the sailors are awestruck by the occurrence yet abandon Icarus
A seemingly insignificant portion of the painting suddenly became the prominent aspect of both works. Not only did the reference provide a visual connection between the two, it also thoroughly transformed my perception on the two works as a whole. At first I was under the impression that Icarus was previously a member of this lower class yet died trying to escape it, that is why his peers refused to save him. I soon realized how inaccurate my interpretation of the hardships of the workers was as Auden was referring to the men witnessing suffering of others in the painting. Whether their prior experiences they understood so well are from witnessing or encountering such tragedies, these men are accustomed to such forms of incident that they pay no mind. Auden is unclear as to how the “Old Masters” have such extensive experience with the matter yet describes their reasons for a lack of assistance. Line seventeen demonstrates this reasoning when stating “it was not an important failure; the sun shone”, excusing the refusal to assist based on the lack of personal benefit. The fact that the sailors and ploughman were most likely made aware of the incident yet did not is what forced me to realize who actually endured the suffering Auden discussed at the beginning of the poem. It seems to imply that these men are so busy with their own lives that they only consider others for their own benefit, this is apparent when the sailors are awestruck by the occurrence yet abandon Icarus