"Musée des Beaux Arts"by W. H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong,The Old Masters: how well they understoodIts human position; how it takes placeWhile someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waitingFor the miraculous birth, there always must beChildren who did not specially want it to happen, skatingOn a pond at the edge of the wood:They never forgotThat even the dreadful martyrdom must run its courseAnyhow in a corner, some untidy spotWhere the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horseScratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Brueghel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns awayQuite leisurely from the disaster; the plowman mayHave heard the splash, the forsaken cry,But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shoneAs it had to on the white legs disappearing into the greenWater; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seenSomething amazing, a boy falling out of

the sky,Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

“Landscape With the Fall of Icarus”by William Carlos Williams

According to Brueghelwhen Icarus fellit was springa farmer was ploughinghis fieldthe whole pageantry

of the year wasawake tinglingnear

the edge of the seaconcernedwith itself

sweating in the sunthat meltedthe wings' wax

unsignificantlyoff the coastthere was

a splash quite unnoticedit wasIcarus drowning.

“Daedalus and Icarus” Lesson and Notes

1. Read “Daedalus” on page 193 of your Mythology book and answer the following questions.

Somebody Wanted But So Notes from class or group discuss

a. What is the overall message or archetypal theme of this story? Which two characters fall victim to this theme?

b. What does this story reveal about a parent-child relationship? Is this revelation still relevant today? Explain

2. Look at the painting LANDSCAPE WITH THE FALL OF ICARUS, painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Below, describe what you see and your reactions to the painting. What might Pieter Bruegel being trying to say through his illustration.

3. Read "Musée des Beaux Arts" by W. H. Auden and answer the following questions:a. What is interesting about the structure of the ideas in Auden’s poem?

b. What does the poem reveal about the way Auden views human perception of terrible events? Are his thoughts still relevant today? Choose a recent event that would support Auden’s thoughts?

c. How accurately did your reflection of the painting, prior to reading Auden’s poem, support Auden’s overall theme?

d. How does the imagery of the poem help to support Auden’s overall message?

4. Read “Landscape With the Fall of Icarus” by William Carlos Williams and answer the following questionsa. What is significant about the physical shape of the poem?

b. What is significant about the way that William Carlos Williams structured his poem? Compare and contrast it to Auden. Whose structure, in your opinion, was more effective? Explain

c. Compare and contrast the messages in both poems. Which poem, in your opinion, is more effective in verbally discussing the meaning behind an artistic illustration? Explain.

5. Think about the four representations of the story of Daedalus and Icarus and answer the following questions.a. Do all pieces of art and literature share the same overall messages?

b. Are there hidden messages to be found in any of the pieces?

c. What does each piece tell us about the culture?

d. What modern examples might we find in social media, the news, or pop culture that would be a modern representation of the story of Daedalus and Icarus? Explain.

e. Create either a poem or an illustration of the modern example that you explained above.