About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.
W. H. Auden’s “Musee des Beaux Arts” stands as a profound meditation on human suffering and the world’s often indifferent response to it. This powerful poem, inspired by Auden’s visit to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, invites readers to consider how great artists, the “Old Masters,” depicted tragedy not as a singular, isolated event, but as an integral part of the sprawling tapestry of everyday life. It is a timeless exploration of empathy, perspective, and the quiet continuation of existence even in the face of profound sorrow.
Summary of Musee des Beaux Arts
Written in 1938, “Musee des Beaux Arts” reflects W. H. Auden’s observations on how the Old Masters, particularly Pieter Bruegel the Elder, captured the human experience in their art. The poem is not merely an art critique; it is a deep philosophical inquiry into the nature of suffering and the human tendency towards detachment and indifference.
The central idea of “Musee des Beaux Arts” revolves around the notion that suffering is rarely a grand, universally acknowledged spectacle. Instead, it often unfolds in the periphery of daily life, unnoticed or unacknowledged by those preoccupied with their own mundane activities. Auden illustrates that even events of immense significance, such as the miraculous birth of Christ or a dreadful martyrdom, do not halt the ordinary rhythms of existence. Life, with its eating, walking, and skating, simply carries on.
A pivotal element of the poem is its vivid reference to Bruegel’s painting, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. Auden uses this artwork as a prime example of how a catastrophic event, Icarus’s fall from the sky, occurs almost as a background detail, overshadowed by the everyday tasks of a ploughman, a shepherd, and a passing ship. This serves to highlight a profound truth about human nature: our capacity to be absorbed in our immediate concerns, even when tragedy is unfolding nearby, underscoring the world’s often banal indifference to individual pain.
In-Depth Analysis of Musee des Beaux Arts
The Old Masters’ Profound Insight: Suffering’s Place in Life
The poem opens with a powerful declaration, immediately establishing its core concern:
About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
Auden suggests that the “Old Masters” possessed a unique and accurate understanding of suffering. They did not portray it as an isolated, dramatic spectacle but as an intrinsic part of the human condition, deeply embedded within the fabric of daily life. The phrase “Its human position” is crucial, implying that suffering is not an abstract concept but is fundamentally tied to our existence, often occurring amidst the most ordinary activities. The juxtaposition of profound pain with mundane actions like “eating or opening a window or just walking dully along” is deliberately striking, emphasizing that life’s routine continues, regardless of individual tragedy.
This theme is further elaborated through the example of the Nativity:
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
Here, Auden contrasts the profound reverence surrounding the “miraculous birth” with the carefree indifference of children. These children, absorbed in their innocent play, are oblivious to the sacred event unfolding. This is not a critique of their innocence but an observation that even the most extraordinary occurrences do not necessarily disrupt the flow of everyday life for everyone. It highlights the world’s capacity for simultaneous, divergent experiences.
The poem continues to reinforce this idea with a stark image of martyrdom:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.
This powerful excerpt encapsulates the poem’s central message. Even the most horrific and significant act of “dreadful martyrdom” is depicted as occurring “in a corner, some untidy spot,” away from the main focus. The casual continuation of animal life—”dogs go on with their doggy life” and the “torturer’s horse / Scratches its innocent behind on a tree”—serves as a poignant symbol of the world’s utterly detached and unaffected rhythm. Life, in its most basic forms, simply persists, indifferent to human suffering and sacrifice.
Bruegel’s Icarus: A Masterpiece of Mundane Indifference
The second stanza shifts focus to a specific artwork, Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, using it as a concrete illustration of the poem’s overarching theme:
In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.
Auden meticulously describes the painting, emphasizing the casual indifference surrounding Icarus’s tragic fall. The “ploughman,” a central figure in the foreground, is so absorbed in his work that Icarus’s “splash” and “forsaken cry” are dismissed as “not an important failure.” His focus remains on his immediate task, illustrating how personal preoccupations can overshadow external tragedy.
The poem further highlights this detachment by noting that “the sun shone / As it had to,” suggesting the indifference of nature itself to human plight. The image of “white legs disappearing into the green / Water” is a stark, understated depiction of Icarus’s demise, almost an afterthought in the grander landscape. Even the “expensive delicate ship,” which “must have seen / Something amazing,” continues its journey, having “somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.” The ship’s purpose and destination take precedence over the extraordinary sight of a boy falling from the sky. These details collectively underscore the poem’s central argument: tragedy often occurs in the periphery, unnoticed or deemed unimportant by those absorbed in their own lives, demonstrating a profound, almost unconscious, human indifference.
Literary and Poetic Devices in Musee des Beaux Arts
Auden masterfully employs a range of literary and poetic devices to convey his profound message, enhancing the poem’s impact and resonance.
- Allusion: The poem is rich with allusions, referencing the “Old Masters” of painting, the biblical “miraculous birth” (the Nativity), and specifically Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. These allusions provide a historical and artistic context, grounding Auden’s observations in established cultural narratives and artworks.
- Juxtaposition: This is a primary device throughout the poem, contrasting profound suffering with mundane, everyday activities. Examples include:
- Suffering occurring “While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along.”
- The “miraculous birth” alongside “Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating.”
- “Dreadful martyrdom” occurring in a “corner” while “dogs go on with their doggy life.”
- Icarus’s fall against the backdrop of the “ploughman” and the “ship that… sailed calmly on.”
This stark contrast highlights the poem’s central theme of indifference.
- Imagery: Auden uses vivid and precise imagery to create strong mental pictures and sensory details. Notable examples include:
- “Children… skating / On a pond at the edge of the wood.”
- “Dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse / Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.”
- “The white legs disappearing into the green / Water.”
These images make the abstract concept of indifference tangible and memorable.
- Understatement: The poem’s tone is remarkably understated and observational, rather than overtly emotional or condemnatory. Auden simply describes the scenes, allowing the stark reality of the indifference to speak for itself. This restraint amplifies the poem’s impact, making the observations feel more profound and universal.
- Free Verse: The poem is written in free verse, meaning it lacks a consistent rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. This choice contributes to a conversational, meditative, and natural tone, allowing Auden to explore his complex ideas with fluidity and flexibility, mimicking the flow of thought.
- Enjambment: Auden frequently uses enjambment, where lines run on without a grammatical pause into the next. For example:
About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;This technique creates a sense of natural speech and continuous thought, encouraging the reader to move fluidly through the poem and connect ideas across line breaks.
- Irony: The poem employs situational irony, particularly in the Icarus stanza. The irony lies in the fact that a momentous, mythological event like a boy falling from the sky is treated with such casual disregard by the surrounding world. This highlights the ironic disconnect between the significance of an event and its perception by others.
- Repetition: The subtle repetition of phrases like “how well they understood” and “how it takes place” in the first stanza emphasizes the Old Masters’ consistent insight and the recurring nature of suffering’s context.
W. H. Auden’s “Musee des Beaux Arts” remains a timeless and deeply insightful poem, offering a profound commentary on the human condition. Through its masterful use of literary devices and its keen observations of art and life, the poem compels readers to reflect on the nature of suffering, the often-unconscious indifference of the world, and the quiet, persistent rhythm of everyday existence. It reminds us that even in moments of grand tragedy, life, in its myriad forms, simply carries on, a truth both sobering and universally resonant.