Both poems refer to Breughel’s, a Dutch painter’s piece of art, the Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. William’s choice of title is the same as the painting’s while W. H. Auden names the museum. The painting – and thus the poems – illustrates the famous ancient Greek legend about Icarus and his father, Daedalus. According to the myth Icarus did not pay attention to Daedalus’s warn, flew to high and the sunbeam melted his wax wings. Icarus fell into the sea and drowned. This is the moment which the painting represents. We can all imagine the poets admiring the picture.
In the poems there are no strict structural rules which apply. In W. H. Auden’s poem we can find short lines as well as long lines randomly. Some lines are connected by enjambments.
In the poems there are no strict structural rules which apply. In W. H. Auden’s poem we can find short lines as well as long lines randomly. Some lines are connected by enjambments.