The Icarus myth is a Greek mythological story about a father and son who tried to escape imprisonment by flying away with fake wings. The father, Daedalus, was “an Athenian craftsman, famous for his ability to invent and build things” (Shmoop Editorial Team). The beginning of the myth gives a backstory about how Daedalus got kicked out of the Athens, traveled to Crete, and ultimately ended up locked away in a tower with his only son Icarus. Towards the end of the story, Daedalus crafted two large pairs of wings out of feathers and candle wax. As he was placing the wings on his son, he gave Icarus some warnings: “flying too near the ocean would dampen the wings and make them too heavy to use. Flying too near the sun, the heat would melt the
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For instance, in Musee des beaux arts, Auden creates a meaning for the painting by stating “…how everything turns away/ quite leisurely, from disaster.” The meaning he gives the painting is that when something bad happens you look the other way. He gives an example of an observation from the painting that supports his meaning when he says “…the ploughman may/ have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, / but for him it was not an important failure.” (Auden). Auden noticed that in the painting there is a man near the sea who might or might not have heard the splash and Icarus drowning, but decided to not pay attention. His whole idea of the painting is that you turn a blind eye when there is a problem. In Landscape with the fall of Icarus, Williams gives meaning to the painting by providing more details of the painting itself. He states, “when Icarus fell/ it was spring/ a farmer was ploughing/ his field” (Williams). He gives specific details about the time of season and what a character is doing in the painting. He also gives a similar meaning to Auden’s poem when states “a splash quiet unnoticed/ this was/ Icarus drowning” (Williams). The two poems have a similar observation. They notice that everyone else in the painting is avoiding or not seeing Icarus drowning. The overall meaning given to Bruegel’s painting is avoiding problems or disasters. The two poems are different in that Auden only talks about Bruegel’s painting towards the end and is long, and Williams is specific about the painting and is
For instance, in Musee des beaux arts, Auden creates a meaning for the painting by stating “…how everything turns away/ quite leisurely, from disaster.” The meaning he gives the painting is that when something bad happens you look the other way. He gives an example of an observation from the painting that supports his meaning when he says “…the ploughman may/ have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, / but for him it was not an important failure.” (Auden). Auden noticed that in the painting there is a man near the sea who might or might not have heard the splash and Icarus drowning, but decided to not pay attention. His whole idea of the painting is that you turn a blind eye when there is a problem. In Landscape with the fall of Icarus, Williams gives meaning to the painting by providing more details of the painting itself. He states, “when Icarus fell/ it was spring/ a farmer was ploughing/ his field” (Williams). He gives specific details about the time of season and what a character is doing in the painting. He also gives a similar meaning to Auden’s poem when states “a splash quiet unnoticed/ this was/ Icarus drowning” (Williams). The two poems have a similar observation. They notice that everyone else in the painting is avoiding or not seeing Icarus drowning. The overall meaning given to Bruegel’s painting is avoiding problems or disasters. The two poems are different in that Auden only talks about Bruegel’s painting towards the end and is long, and Williams is specific about the painting and is