Analysis of the poem Musee de Beaux Arts

    𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟    

𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜

Wystan Hugh Auden is Anglo - American poet of English literature. Auden was influenced by Eliot, Hopkins, Kipling, Freud and Marx. He served himself as a chancellor of the academy of American poets from 1954 to 1973. Auden was born on February 21, 1907, in Yorkshire England. He completed his studies in Christ church oxford. He has been considered as a war poet and as a poet of modernism and experimentation. has written poems on love death and war

𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕖𝕟'𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜  

Lullaby, Funeral Blues, Autumn song, As I walked out one evening, In memory of W.B yeast, The unknown citizen, The shield of Achilles, Musee des Baux arts

There are two phases of Auden's career: 

First phase: He was influenced by Marx and Freud. His early were the fusion of social criticism and protest. his early poetry expresses the poet's reaction to the political social and economic issues. 

Second phase: Second phase shows a change in Auden's interest. The poetry of this phase reflects his deep understanding of life and its problems. He deals with the response of the individual to social living. His later poetry was based on religion and Metaphysical turn.

One of the famous poems of W.H Auden is Muse des Beaux Arts. This poem describes a painting which reflects on human condition. Musee Des Beaux Arts is written in 21 lines. The word Musee Des Beaux Arts is a French word which means Museum of fine Arts. The poem was first published in a title named "Palasios des beaux arts" which means palace of fine arts. When Auden visited the museum, he would have seen a number of paintings of the 'OLD MASTERS' referred to in the second line of the poem, including the Landscape with the Fall of Icarus which is still regarded as the painting of peter Bruegel the elder. When Auden examined all the three paintings, he composed a poem in which in a single painting he gave three different historical incidents.  

Three famous paintings which were included by W.H Auden are The Census at Bethlehem, The Massacre of the Innocents and Landscape with the fall of Icarus.

1. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝙱𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚕𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚖: 

   This painting is painted by famous painter peter Bruegel the elder and it was painted in 1566. The painting shows Bethlehem as a Flemish village in winter. A group of people gathered, and children were busy in their games like skeeing , the old people waiting patiently for the birth of christ , other people are making their way to the building. Pregnant Mary on a donkey and Joseph are finding their way to find a shelter.

2. 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜:  

It was painted in the 16th century by poster Bruegel the elder. This painting translates the biblical references of Massacre of the Innocents into a winter scene.

This painting depicts a historical event from bible. As it is described in the gospel of Saint Mathew. When king Herod was told by the magi about the birth of jesus christ he ordered the soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem below the age of 2 years . The Massacre of the Innocents is o 28 December in the catholic Lutheran and Anglican church calendar.  The cruelty is the major theme.

3. 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚞𝚜 :

W.H Auden refers to Brueghel's famous painting 'Icarus'. The poet says that the painting shows how everything turns away and how people remain indifferent.  The ploughman may have heard rhea splash when Icarus fell into the sea. He may have even heard the painful cry but for him, it was not an important happening. 

Icarus got wings of wax from his father and even he was told not to fly near the sun but he didn't listen to his father and flu high and his wings were melted due to that he fell down  into the sea.

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕤 

The major theme, or general message, of this poem is about the nature of human suffering. Auden recognizes that all humans have painful and traumatic experiences that can change the course of their lives, but meanwhile the rest of the world continues on in a mundane way.

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟: 

Thus, we may conclude the discussion by saying that W. H. Auden is indeed a modernist poet in the truest sense of the word. His poetry is infused with the ideas od frustration of modern man and destruction of the societies and cultures after the two World Wars. His experimentation in poetry also makes him a true modern