"The Fall of Icarus", a famous artwork drawn by Pieter Bruegel, touches upon the Greek myth of the tragedy of Icarus. Such a famous artwork that remained well-known through the passage of time undoubtedly inspired other poets to base their poem on the artwork. "Musee Des Beaux Arts" written by W.H.Auden, and "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" by William Carlos Williams are two of the most renown poems that is based on the artwork. Although both of the poems are based on the same artwork, they share a similar message but expressed through different methods. "Musee Des Beaux Arts" conveys a deep sorrow feeling of missing a beloved one to the reader, and then regarding death as an evitable cycle of life, whilst "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" simply describes about the artwork's main features and overall appearance, and then tops off with a brief summary of Icarus’ death. "Musee Des Beaux Arts" starts off a generalization of how humans think of dealing with the trauma of death with "About suffering they were never wrong, The old Masters: How well they understood: How it takes place.". The lines refers to how the elderly treats death to be an inevitable course of event that could not be avoided, and is further reinforced with "How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting", hinting to the reader that death might even be a relief to the elderly that has experienced many events in their lives. "That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course" and "For the miraculous birth, there must be Children who did not specially want it to happen," acts as a metaphor to how death and birth are necessary and inevitable, and all of it is a part of a cycle that humans live in. In the second stanza the generalization shifts to the... ... middle of paper ... ...h as an inevitable course of life, and uses Icarus’ death in the last stanza as an example to highlight his feelings. “The Landscape with The Fall of Icarus” instead focuses on the insignificance of Icarus’ death by using various techniques such as irony in the title, including very little detail on the death, the order of the events, and the lack of punctuation. To conclude, the poem “Landspace with the fall of Icarus” enables the reader to quickly understand the theme of the poem. The poem alludes to only one event, the tragedy of Icarus. The poem “Musee des Beaux Arts” however requires the reader to take time in order to fully grasp the meaning of the poem and the theme of the poem. Although the two poems refer to the same event and have similar themes, due to difference in their form, structure, tone and language the reader is affected at different levels.
The speaker introduces the idea of the natural cycle of life, where something becomes born and eventually dies. This reflects back to the Native culture where the cycle of life was much celebrated. The idea of "death and birth" symbolizes the speaker 's love that was once born to die in the end. It also symbolizes the pleasure and pain that comes with falling in love. She was born again with the new knowledge and pleasure the love had to offer. However, it is an undeniable fact that the same love that gave her so much joy at one point, gave her just as much pain. A part of her past- self had to die in order for the speaker to be reborn.
... seeing and feeling it’s renewed sense of spring due to all the work she has done, she was not renewed, there she lies died and reader’s find the child basking in her last act of domestication. “Look, Mommy is sleeping, said the boy. She’s tired from doing all out things again. He dawdled in a stream of the last sun for that day and watched his father roll tenderly back her eyelids, lay his ear softly to her breast, test the delicate bones of her wrist. The father put down his face into her fresh-washed hair” (Meyer 43). They both choose death for the life style that they could no longer endure. They both could not look forward to another day leading the life they did not desire and felt that they could not change. The duration of their lifestyles was so pain-staking long and routine they could only seek the option death for their ultimate change of lifestyle.
The juxtaposition of the Titanic and the environment in the first five stanzas symbolizes the opposition between man and nature, suggesting that nature overcomes man. The speaker characterizes the sea as being “deep from human vanity” (2) and deep from the “Pride of Life that planned” the Titanic. The diction of “human vanity” (2) suggests that the sea is incorruptible by men and then the speaker’s juxtaposition of vanity with “the
As Edna St. Vincent Millay begins her second paragraph of Renascence, she describes herself as joyous of her coming death. Millay has been telling the reader of her frustration and anguish as she lies on the ground burdened by the sin of her life. She cries out in sheer pain, "Ah, awful weight!" She actually describes herself as "craving" death. The dying experience was becoming so painful for Millay, that she just wanted the process to be finished. The second paragraph welcomes Millay into her eternity and in turn she becomes relaxed and satisfied about her passing from life. Millay takes on a very difficult task of not only describing the final stage of death as a joyous thing, but also attempting to persuade her audience into believing the same thing.
The meaning behind the myth of Icarus is universal, but due to the wild and ancient nature of the myth, it can be hard to relate to. The way the Fields places the myth in a contemporary setting through the use of point of view, truly modern diction, and ubiquitous imagery makes the meaning of the poem more relatable to a modern audience. This poem shows how universal the aspiration for greatness is while portraying the crushing effect of the fall from its
The illustration shows an answer to the philosophical question, is there life after death? Death, as portrayed in this art reflects death as the end of existence in this life, but shows it continuing in another. When man dies in this world, he proceeds to another world. The representation of death and moving through a door to the afterlife is a strongly influenced by the Christian idea of what one can expect in the afterlife, if they have lived a good life. To be rejuvenated in a more youthful fo...
W.H. Auden and Pieter Bruegel were both keen observers of the ordinary. In Bruegel’s painting “The Fall of Icarus”, he is able to look past the tragedy of the death of Icarus and focus on the simple scene surrounding the event. Auden’s poem, “Musee des Beaux Arts”, has the same qualities: it glazes over the nature of tragedy, and chooses to instead examine the fact that life goes on while disaster occurs. Arthur F. Kinney highlights this idea of calm in the face of tragedy in a critical essay entitled “Auden, Bruegel, and Musee des Beaux Arts”. Kinney explores Auden’s inspiration for the theme of the poem. The theme, Kinney explains, is not merely generated by “The Fall of Icarus”, but also two other Bruegel pieces. “The Numbering at Bethlehem” portays Joseph and Mary arriving at Bethlehem, while “The Massacre of the Innocents” shows a torturer and his horse in a town square. Both pieces convey the same main theme as “Musee des Beaux Arts”: the complex nature of a substantial event, contrasted with the simplicity of every day life. Each of the paintings reflects on human nature, in the context of apathy amidst tragedy. In his critical article “Auden, Bruegel, and Musee des Beaux Arts” Kinney asserts that “the same statement [is] made by two art forms”, and that Bruegel’s painting and the poem it inspired, “Musee des Beaux Arts”, “juxtapose the unique and the commonplace.”
Poets such as Bryant have forever been trying to write their thoughts and feelings down on paper. They write their words like a painter lays their brush to a canvas. They express ideas that not only exemplify the beauty of life and nature, but also the darkest side of one’s life; death. This notion of death is what most people see as a sad ending to a life filled with beauty, though William Cullen Bryant does not see death in that way. In his poem “Thanatopsis” he offers an optimistic outlook on death. He views it as nothing more than the moment you become one with nature and venture through its beauty for all eternity. It is truly a work of art. This is shown by the use of his effective writing skills he uses skills such as, alliteration, similes and personification that make the poem come alive, just as a painter strives to make his art come alive. Also, this poem is art due to the deep thinking required to grasp its concept of death, you cannot read it just once you must read in between the lines and analyze what the poet is saying.
...ictures for the reader. The similar use of personification in “Snapping Beans” by Lisa Parker and the use of diction and imagery in “Nighttime Fires” by Regina Barreca support how the use of different poetic devices aid in imagery. The contrasting tones of “Song” by John Donne and “Love Poem” by John Frederick Nims show how even though the poems have opposite tones of each other, that doesn’t mean the amount of imagery changes.
Predominantly the poem offers a sense of comfort and wisdom, against the fear and pain associated with death. Bryant shows readers not to agonize over dying, in fact, he writes, "When thoughts of the last bitter hour come like a blight over thy spirit, and sad images of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, and breathless darkness, and the narrow house, make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart -- go forth under the open sky, and list to Nature 's teachings." With this it eludes each person face their own death, without fright, to feel isolated and alone in death but to find peace in knowing that every person before had died and all those after will join in death (Krupat and Levine
Poets often use techniques such as tone, imagery, themes, and poem structure to create a more complex view of their stance on the subject. These features can make the poem more interesting to the reader and helps to develop their story. The use of imagery in a poem can take the reader on a journey filled with sensory images that help the reader to connect with the subjects of the poems. The tone of the poem determines the mood and feelings that the reader will experience. The theme of a poem holds the true meaning and point of the poem and is explained using the above literary techniques. While “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath and “Piano” by D.H. Lawrence both contain imagery and tone to convey the poets’ common theme of the longing for the past to revive itself, the poets use different poem structures that further convey their overall message.
the poet is trying to portray the fragility of a life, as it is created with the intent to be lost (death
The artists Jean-Honore Fragonard and Jaques-Louis David both successfully embody their respective stylistic differences. Fragonard’s style of painting is Rococo, which is characterized by its softness, asymmetry and curviness. Contrasting these ideals is David’s style of painting, Neo-Classicism. Neo-Classicism is synonymous with strong gestures, symmetry, and solidness. Two works that best exemplify the ideals of each style of painting are Fragonard’s The Swing, 1767 and David’s The Death of Socrates, 1787. Although at first glance, it is easier to focus on how each work is different to the other, one can argue that they are similar in theme. Both The Swing and The Death of Socrates are works that deal with the theme of decision making. However, they differ in how each work portrays the theme of deciding. While The Swing focuses on infidelity and the process of deciding, The Death of Socrates makes it clear that loyalty to government is stronger than the ties of friendship or acquaintance. By examining use of light, form, subject matter as well as other artistic elements, one can see how each artist conveys a message by utilizing their style of art.
...orm to society’s expectations. The idea of death makes one aware of one's life, one's vital being – that which is impermanent and will one day end. When this vitality is appreciate, one feels free – for there is no urgency to perform some act that will cancel the possibility of death, seeing as though there is no such act. In this sense, all human activity is absurd, and the real freedom is to be aware of life in it’s actually and totally, of its beauty and its pain.
Jumping right into the first line of the poem one sees that it begins by stating, “Because I could not stop for Death”. Since this line was selected for the title of the piece, it can be inferred that it must hold some strong significance. Over the course of this poem the reader is drawn to the concl...