Abstract This paper argues that, in writing "Musee des Beaux Arts", Auden, chose to write about the painting because it captures one of his central themes of the suffering and unfeeling attitude in everyday life. By analyzing "Musee des Beaux Arts," we can see how Auden uses imagery, language, and the classical theme of the fall of Icarus not only to communicate his theme, but to discuss Brueghel's painting.
From the Paper "Auden's use of the Icarus image and of the work of Old Master Brueghel show classical style, but the poetic form of "Musee" is not classical. He uses two unequal stanzas and a varied rhyme pattern that was uncommon in his era. He opens the poem with a reference to the Old Dutch Master painters of the 16th century, of which Bruegel was a member: "About suffering they were never wrong, / The Old Masters: how well they understood / Its human position..." "
Abstract This essay examines Auden's poem, focusing on the ballad like quality of the lines and the images that resemble a fairytale. Part ballad, part nursery rhyme, part lullaby, the shape of the poem soothes and entices the reader, while the content draws one into a world of devastation, death, and betrayal. Auden's fluid mix of styles are mentioned as well as poetry's ability to give pleasure and comfort.
From the Paper "The poem takes the shape of a ballad. The normal ballad stanza has 4 beats in the first line, 3 in the second, 4 in the third, and 3 in the fourth, and lines 2 and 4 rhyme. Auden uses a variant in which lines one and three have only 3 beats, instead of 4. But like all ballads, this poem sounds like a song (and, in fact, it has been set to music by composer Elizabeth Lutyens"
This paper reviews W.H. Auden's poem, "Musee de Beaux Arts", an analysis of a motif from Pieter Brueghel's paintings that humans continue their lives despite events of human suffering.
Abstract This paper discusses Auden's poem "Musee de Beaux Arts", which presents the idea that Breughel's work depicted everyday events but in the corner of the painting is a small depiction of human suffering such as the crucifixion of Jesus. The author asks "What can any one man do to make a difference in the face of human tragedy?" and states that Auden's answer would be: Tell the tale, paint the picture, write the poem describing the human suffering to rouse others to consciousness and involvement.
From the Paper "The first painting, Auden passes,, depicts an example of 'human position" of suffering, a moment of pain, which also is a moment of glory: The birth of Christ. While a woman struggles in labor, the old men, indifferent to her suffering, 'reverently, passionately (await)" (line 6) the product of her labor, and children already born, "who did not specially want it to happen" (lines 7-8) go on with their play, "skating on a pond at the edge of the wood" (lines 8-9)."
Abstract Dylan's ?The Times they are a Changing", Hughes' "Harlem: A Dream Deferred", and Auden's "The Unknown Citizen", all investigate the themes of human goals and the impact of society upon these goals. This paper explains how Hughes's poem provides an analysis of how the deferment of life goals by society can result in great destruction to both the individual and society. It then shows how Auden's poem also looks at the loss of life goals, this time through the overarching control of a mechanized, soulless state and conformity. In contrast, Dylan's lyrics provide hope for the realization of dreams and hopes through social change.
From the Paper "In his poem, "Harlem: A Dream Deferred", Langston Hughes investigates the theme of the destructive impact of deferring dreams. In his first sentence, Hughes sets up a rhetorical question, "What happens to a dream deferred?", and then sets about determining the effect of life goals that are delayed or put off. Clearly, Hughes wants to impart the idea that any life goal that is delayed gives a negative outcome. Further, his inclusion of the word Harlem in the title is indicative that the poem reflects the destruction of life goals in the African American community that is symbolized by Harlem itself. Hughes' poem describes the effect of life goals that must be put off until society changes, and laws and institutions are ready to accept African Americans. Until the time that an African American's goals can be fulfilled, Hughes' lists several alternative possibilities for the reactions of African Americans."
Abstract This paper looks at both the structure and thematic content of Auden's poem and matches it against the sonnet template. The author then makes the case that Auden's poem, ostensibly a free verse piece, meets much of the criteria of a traditional sonnet.
From the Paper "If one were to sample from the world of the sonnet, one would encounter rhyme and recognizable structure. While the structure might vary-from the English form, with its three quatrains and closing couplet, to the Italian sonnet, with its rima biaciata-ordered octave and concluding sestet,-the reader would experience iambic pentameter organized into fourteen lines, each line's closing contributing to the poem's definable rhyming sequence. Even the heroic sonnet with its rebellious extra quatrain would still conform to this strict poetic structure, including the "turn" explained by Paul Fussell as "a logical or emotional shift by which the speaker enables himself to take a new or altered or enlarged view of his subject" (116). W.H. Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts," with its thirteen-line first stanza and eight-line second, does not fulfil either the sonnet's line requirements or its rhyme constraints; both its end rhymes and meter, while present, are chaotic in nature (Auden, 2505) ."
Abstract The paper demonstrates how the three parts of the poem reflect the elegiac, apostrophe and poetic mimicry of Yeats' verse in Auden's "In Memory of William Butler Yeats." The paper discusses that while the poem immediately shows a traditional form of reflection and commemoration of Yeats's life and his death in the modern world, it is clear that Auden sought to idealize the naturalism and mythical mastery that Yeats beheld in poetical history.
From the Paper "This study will examine the three parts of W.H. Auden's poem: "In Memory of William Butler Yeats." In the first part of the poem, Auden uses a reflective elegiac ideology to commemorate a poet that he held in high literary regard. After Auden describes the differing social perspectives of Yeats' influence on the world, the second part of the poem brings forth an apostrophe that speaks to Yeats as a brother in poetry. Finally, the third part of the poem is written in verse style of Yeats, as Auden brings to life the actual poetic talents that his hero had emulated in his lifetime. In essence, the three parts of the elegy will be examined within the context of the style that Auden has chosen to commemorate William Butler Yeats."
Abstract W. H. Auden's poem, "As I Walked Out One Evening", is a splendid example of Auden's use of imagery. In this poem, Auden forces us to look at the concept of time from the perspective that it is like an enemy. To put this image in place, he contrasts it with a pair of lovers who cannot grasp the true meaning of time because their perspectives are muddled with their concept of love. This paper examines Auden's poem and how he utilizes the technique of imagery to successfully prove his point.
From the Paper "According to Robert Bloom Auden's poetry often carries with it a "sense of the immense peril in which the whole human enterprise stands as the hour comes round for a decaying civilization either to renew itself or die" (Bloom). This perspective is clearly laid out in ?As I Walked Out One Evening,? as the speaker takes notice of two lovers on Bristol Street. As we will discover, time and its justice can be seen as the poem unfolds."
Abstract In W. H. Auden's poem, ?Funeral Blues,? the speaker uses well-constructed poetic language and form to convey her attitude toward the subject of death. It explains how Auden manifests an extremely bitter interpretation of hopelessness and eternal sadness on the part of the speaker as a result of losing a loved one. The speaker in the poem is deeply saddened about the loss of her loved one and the fact that it was a force beyond her control. This person has been taken from her life in haste at a most inopportune time, and she feels as though her life has become pointless. It shows how, through Auden's use of tone, language, and structure, he portrays a very well-defined image of death and its effects on the individual, which is by no means desirable.
From the Paper In "Funeral Blues" Auden makes the bitter attitude of the speaker toward the subject of death apparent to the readers through the use of symbols, imagery, personification, and the metaphor. In the first stanza Auden states, ?stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone...?(Auden 1362. 1). The clock being stopped may signify the fact that he who died has run out of time and also to ask those who knew him to stop what they are doing and reflect. The telephone being cut off brings forth the idea of silence. Auden does this to show the deceased the respect they deserve. She believes in honouring the dead with a moment of silence to pay respect. In the second stanza the speaker states, ?let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead.?(Auden 1362. 5). She uses this metaphoric image to convey the pointlessness of her life and also her grief. What point is there for aeroplanes to fly in circles? She is comparing the pointlessness of flying in circles to her life without her partner.
The following paper compares Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" where a young man faces execution, to W. H. Auden's poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" which describes Breughel's painting, "Fall of Icarus".
Abstract This paper examines how both Bierce's short story and Auden's poem imply that humankind is cruel at best, indifferent at worst. However, the author discovers how these pieces also differ from each other in many ways. This essay distinguishes between the way in which Bierce sees death as a 'dignitary' who must be met with certain rituals as compared to Auden who sees death as haphazard, accidental, occurring without ritual or even much notice.
From the Paper ?Bierce and Auden seem to take a similar dim view of human nature. In the early paragraphs of ?An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,? Bierce shows the condemned Farquhar to be a loving husband and father. (?He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children.?) Bierce also describes Farquhar as having a ?kindly expression.? However, this does nothing to soften the hearts of his captors. ?The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded,? Bierce tells the reader. Not only are the officers committed to hanging Farquhar, they make every possible effort to kill him following his ?escape.?
Abstract This paper examines how irony and satire are at the heart of W. H. Auden's poem, "The Unknown Citizen", which is about a man who remains unnamed throughout the entire poem. It discusses how this unnamed citizen, however, represents the society that we live in and the modern men and women who have come to live by society's terms. Through tone and content, it also demonstrates how Auden is able to illustrate the cost of losing one's own identity.
From the Paper "To emphasize the image of a man living a very ordinary life, Auden gives us more details that relate the individual to his or her place in society. For example, we are told he served the "greater Community/except for the War till the day he retired" (6, 7). He was a also factory worker, he pleased his bosses, and paid his dues--all of these facts paint the picture of someone who lived an ordinary life. In addition, Auden includes that the man "wasn"t a scab or odd in his views? (10) and he "added five children to the population, which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation" (27-29). We don?t get the impression that he was unique, for even where there was "peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went" (25, 26). All of these images depict a man that is formed by the society that surrounds him."
Abstract W.H. Auden's poem, "Musee des Beaux Arts", was inspired by the images of suffering in a painting by Brueghel. The paper shows how the central image of the painting serves to convey Auden's idea that only artists, the "Old Masters", truly understood suffering from a global point of view.
From the Paper "Auden uses the structure of the poem to visually present his conflict. The first part of the poem is a general depiction of suffering and the indifference to this suffering. Whereas he names specific instances of suffering, the poet does not put a name to any of the persons engaged either in suffering or in indifference. He only refers to them only as "the aged" and "children". The same is true of artists, who receive the general reference of "Old Masters" in the first part of the poem. During the second part of the poem Auden suddenly turns to specific suffering. One specific person, depicted in one specific painting by one specific artist is mentioned."
The poet Auden has said that Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man. This essay examines the truth of the statement based on Kafka's novella, "The Metamorphosis".
Abstract Modern man is in a predicament. He cannot please everyone. He cannot do any thing right. Kafka had personally experienced this situation. He vividly portrayed it in his writing, which are autobiographical in a sense. With "The Metamorphosis" as a basis, but drawing upon other sources as well, this essay begins by providing a definition of "modern man" and then examines the genesis, the nature and the consequences of the predicament. Ultimately the essay explores the way to come out of the predicament.
From the Paper "The value of a work of literature, or of any other creative endeavour, lies in its universal appeal. Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis is a widely acclaimed landmark of twentieth century literature. We can completely empathise with Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of The Metamorphosis. Samsa's concerns are our concerns. W.H.Auden very aptly says, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man." [1] The Metamorphosis can be read at various levels. At the simplest it is a bizarre tale of the transformation of a young man into a "monstrous vermin". How the provider of the family becomes an alien in his own home appears to be a tale of pure fantasy. But at a deeper level it is a tale of the author himself. Samsa, the name of the protagonist, is a cryptogram for Kafka. [2] Samsa's family situation is very similar to Kafka's. In a letter to his father written in 1919 (a letter which was never sent) Kafka accuses him of wanting to live off Kafka. [3] In the novella Gregor's father is living off Gregor's income despite having saved a reasonable sum of money from his collapsed business. But most important, Gregor's suppressed desires and emotions are really those experienced by Kafka. We finally realise, without being told, that Gregor's predicament is not only that of Kafka, but that of modern society as well. We come to this realisation because we have read works of other writers that deal with this issue, we have known about people who have been plagued by this predicament and to a varying degree we have experienced it ourselves."
From the Paper "Poets draw upon life experiences and intellectual influences in developing their work, with some such influences being conscious and others unconscious but perceptible. W.H. Auden was a very conscious poet, a theorist as well as a poet, and one who understood the influences shaping his poetry and who made deliberate use of them to convey his themes and emotional impact. An examination of Auden's poetry and his theories of poetry shows that he was influenced by strong intellectual currents of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and that he consciously used the fact and power of ideology as he made use of the developing existentialism of S?ren Kierkegaard and the social and political writings of Marx and other Communist thinkers to convey his particular notions of order.
In a famous lecture on poetry delivered by Auden at Oxford, ... "
Abstract This seven-page undergraduate paper discusses the poem "September 1, 1939" by WH Auden with reference to the tragedy of September 11 to find out the intellectual, political and emotional implications of the poem. This poem was though abandoned by the poet himself, it has made a comeback recently and has touched the hearts of millions giving voice to their fear and pain.
Abstract This paper proves how the poem's text can be called into question because it contains oppositions and gaps that are left to be filled in, creating a different analysis from the normative reading. Auden said that the Old Masters believed that tragic events experienced by individuals are viewed with apathy by others. This paper proves quite the opposite.
From the Paper "The theme of the poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden can be interpreted to reveal that the most tragic and miraculous events experienced by individuals is viewed with apathy by others, according to the Old Masters. The poem reads, ?About suffering they were never wrong,/ The Old Masters; how well, they understood/ Its human position.? However, a closer examination of this poem proves quite the opposite. First, The Old Masters did not agree on this "human position". There are many opinions to take into consideration. Secondly, further analysis reveals that the broad consensus of the Old Masters is that the majority of humans do pay attention and feel for those that experience such events."
