The “miraculous birth” is an allusion to the birth of Christ. Rather than spelling it out to the reader Auden engages the reader by making him draw upon his own cultural experience to identify the event referred to. Auden does this again later with his allusion to the crucifixion of Christ.
In the fifth line by following the adjective “reverently” by another adjective, with a similar syllabic structure, “passionately”, Auden slows down the rhythm of the line creating a reverent tone whilst the repetitive sounds of the two adjectives create a passionate tone. Auden makes an equally good use of the word waiting by placing it at the end the line without end stopping. This effectively holds the reader in suspense, making the reader wait for the rest of the sentence.
Auden makes use of enjambment frequently throughout Musée des Beax Arts, maintaining the knowing tone of a storyteller imparting his wisdom. The use of enjambment at the end of line six creates suspense. This suspense is reinforced by the use of the word “must” as it gives the impression of something important concerning the “miraculous birth” about to be imparted. Whereas in fact the next lines describe the ordinary playing of children “who do not specially want it (the “miraculous birth”) to happen”. The reader’s expectation of something extraordinary, disappointed by the ordinary lives of children communicates Auden’s theme of life continuing regardless of the extraordinary. The fact that the children are skating on a pond rather than the pond emphasises the insignificance of their actions but because they are at the edge of the wood they are not so disconnected from the “miraculous birth” for their disinterest to be irrelevant.
Next Auden refers to the crucifixion of Christ. This extraordinary event occurs in ordinary surroundings where “the dogs go on with there doggy life” and is performed by an ordinary person. By avoiding grandiose descriptions of the crucifixion and instead emphasising insignificant details Auden diminishes the impact of the extraordinary event of Christ’s crucifixion and puts the reader in the position of the children from the previous lines. Auden makes the “torturer’s horse” more interesting to the reader by the comical image of it scratching “its innocent behind on a tree”. The charming language in the description of the dogs going on with their “doggy life” also distracts the reader from the crucifixion of Christ. The actions of the animals also serve to demonstrate the irrelevance of Christ’s crucifixion to them, showing life continuing in its regular fashion for them.
The poem is split into two sections similarly to a sonnet, although the form of the poem is certainly not that of a Petrarchan sonnet. The poem is actually written in free verse with varying line lengths and an irregular rhyme scheme, this form helps to create the casual conversational tone of the poem. The first section introduces Auden’s theme and takes examples from the life of Christ, while the second section talks more specifically about the tragedy of Icarus as depicted in Brueghel’s painting. The change in focus of the poem is similar to the change of thought typical of a Petrarchan sonnet.
The second poetic paragraph has a colloquial tone. The use of the phrase “for instance” and the way in which the narrator refers to Brueghel’s painting, The Fall of Icarus as “Brueghel’s Icarus” rather than by its full title, creates the informal conversational tone, and also implies some degree of assumed knowledge of the reader by the narrator.
Similarly to the first, the second poetic paragraph seems to begin as though the narrator is midway through a description. This style creates an expectation for the audience as the lines are not complete sentences and it seems as though something more should follow,
“In Brueghel’s Icarus for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster;”
But instead there is a subject change and the audience is left uncertain of the precise intention of the comment. This incomplete sentence structure is what maintains the poetic feel despite the free verse structure and colloquial tone.
Auden goes on to describe the scene of Brueghel’s painting, The Fall of Icarus. The use of the word “leisurely” removes the possibility that “everything turns away” in response to the tragedy and so takes away the importance of the action of turning away. Auden comments on the way that the ploughman ignores Icarus’ fall, the sun shines on as it always does and the passing ship continues with its journey. However unlike his treatment of Christ’s crucifixion Auden does not make the event of Icarus’ death as uninteresting to the audience. Auden uses comical images such as “the white legs disappearing into the green / water” which captures the audience’s attention. However, this use of imagery and the employment of amusing language such as “splash” to describe Icarus plummeting to his death is insensitive and objectifies him. The blasé way that the narrator describes Icarus’ death as “not an important failure” from the ploughman’s perspective emphasises this insensitivity and seems cruel when one considers how important a failure it was for Icarus. The way that the sun continues to shine on Icarus as he falls into the sea makes even the sun seem cruel, especially when it is remembered that the sun shining on Icarus in the first place is what causes his death.
The use of enjambment on line seventeen causes the audience to consider the possibilities of what will follow “the sun shone”. Due to the role of the sun in Icarus’ demise it seems possible that the comment on sun will be of some significance, however as before with the reference to the “miraculous birth” the actual comment is insignificant and emphasises the way that life just continues regardless of the tragedy.
The portrayal of the ship as “expensive” and “delicate” creates the impression of the ship as valuable, contrasting with the description of Icarus to the extent that it seems possible that the narrator is suggesting that the ship is more valuable even than Icarus’ life. The narrator describes Icarus’ plummet as “Something amazing” but describes his death as “ a boy falling out of the sky”. There is a lack of empathy and the notion seems almost comical. Still the ship “Has somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on”, Auden’s use of the word “calmly” emphasises the disregard of the ship concerning Icarus and the continuation of the ship’s course despite the tragedy it has witnessed.
Auden’s assessment of human reaction to tragedy is as true for today as it was for the subjects of Brueghel’s painting, The Fall of Icarus. However it is unclear whether this continuation of life regardless of tragedy is to be viewed as a callous lack of concern or a sensibly rational acceptance.
Word count:1489
