Our Visual Cornucopia
by W. H. Auden
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/30 - 1569), Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,
c. 1558, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 28.9 × 44.1 in. (73.5 × 112 cm),
c. 1558, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 28.9 × 44.1 in. (73.5 × 112 cm),
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Painting may be an early copy of a lost Brueghel original.
Catalogued as The Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel I on the Royal Museums of fine Arts of Belgium Web site.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Musée de Beaux Arts (1940)
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 Brueghel'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.
What good fortune to have an interest in art. Moreover, what good luck to respond to art. Worlds open up. Insights gained. Emotions touched.
Take a look at W. H. Auden's poem, Musée de Beaux Arts. The poet was moved by the old master paintings he viewed in Brussels's Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Auden was particularly drawn to the works by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. His reflections on their meaning resulted in this poem.
The poem was completed while Auden was in Brussels in the winter of 1938. First published in 1939 in a literary periodical, the piece did not get its present title until a year later when it appeared in the poet's collection of 1936 -1939 poems, Another Time.
Auden gets at the essence of Brueghel's paintings. He writes about the indifference of man to suffering. Although a catastrophe takes place, people continue with their life and daily routines. The misfortune may have gone unnoticed or ignored.
Take a look at W. H. Auden's poem, Musée de Beaux Arts. The poet was moved by the old master paintings he viewed in Brussels's Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Auden was particularly drawn to the works by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. His reflections on their meaning resulted in this poem.
The poem was completed while Auden was in Brussels in the winter of 1938. First published in 1939 in a literary periodical, the piece did not get its present title until a year later when it appeared in the poet's collection of 1936 -1939 poems, Another Time.
Auden gets at the essence of Brueghel's paintings. He writes about the indifference of man to suffering. Although a catastrophe takes place, people continue with their life and daily routines. The misfortune may have gone unnoticed or ignored.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/30 - 1569), Detail of Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,
c. 1558, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 28.9 × 44.1 in. (73.5 × 112 cm),
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Painting now considered an early copy of a Brueghel original.
Catalogued as The Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel I on Royal Museums of fine Arts of Belgium Web site.
Photo: Artstor
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/30 - 1569), Detail of Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,
c. 1558, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 28.9 × 44.1 in. (73.5 × 112 cm),
The poem's third verse centers on Brueghel's Fall of Icarus. The Greek mythological Icarus was the son of Daedalus the talented craftsman who built the labyrinth of Crete. Father and son had been imprisoned on the island since Daedalus helped the Cretan King's enemy. In order to escape, Daedalus created wings from feathers and wax so he and his son could fly away. Icarus was warned by his father not to travel close to the sun. Excited by his new found ability, the young man did not heed his parent's advice. He soared way too high. The wax melted; the feathers on his arms fell off; Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.
c. 1558, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 28.9 × 44.1 in. (73.5 × 112 cm),
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Painting now considered an early copy of a Brueghel original.
Catalogued as The Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel I on Royal Museums of fine Arts of Belgium Web site.
The poet observes. No one takes note of the fallen boy. The ploughman looks down continuing with his work. The shepherd looks up, his back to the struggling Icarus whose legs flail in the water. The herder's leashed dog sits calmly at his master's side; the flock goes on with their grazing.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/30 - 1569), Detail of Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,
c. 1558, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 28.9 × 44.1 in. (73.5 × 112 cm),
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Painting now considered an early copy of a Brueghel original.
Catalogued as The Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel I on Royal Museums of fine Arts of Belgium Web site.
Photo: Artstor
Like the poet, seek out museums and galleries. They provide a cornucopia of visual experiences. Choices are varied. Visit a different time or country. Consider new points of views. Look at two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects.
On the water, ships and sailboats with somewhere to go move on. Sails billow out in the wind. Seamen busy themselves with seafaring tasks. Spot them on the near galleon's top sails, riggings and decks.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1526/30 - 1569), Detail of Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,
c. 1558, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 28.9 × 44.1 in. (73.5 × 112 cm),
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
Painting now considered an early copy of a Brueghel original.
Catalogued as The Fall of Icarus by Pieter Brueghel I on Royal Museums of fine Arts of Belgium Web site.
Photo: Artstor
Photo: Artstor
A fisherman, seated on the edge of some rocks overlooking the sea, leans forward. His right arm extended aiming his fishing rod out over the swells. Head bent down, the angler concentrates no doubt on his cast line. Only a bird perched on a nearby branch may be paying attention to Icarus's plight.
There is more to explore in the painting as well as Auden's poem which also refers to two other Brueghel works in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. What matters for now is that the artworks inspired the poet.* Paintings often do just that and more.
Like the poet, seek out museums and galleries. They provide a cornucopia of visual experiences. Choices are varied. Visit a different time or country. Consider new points of views. Look at two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects.
Think about New York City. Hundreds of public and private galleries and museums - estimates from 500 to 1,500 depending on criteria. Difficult to count and always changing. They are all over the city - Chelsea, Lower East Side, Soho, Tribeca, 57th Street, Upper East Side, Upper West side, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Include the easily accessible tri-state area and the numbers increase. New Haven, Connecticut is an example of the latter. Just over 2 hours from mid-Manhattan, the superb Yale University art venues can easily fill a day. The plenitude of art gives much to be thankful for. Go enjoy.
*For additional poems inspired by artworks, see The Poet Speaks of Art, a project designed by Harry Rusche, English Department, Emory University.
*For additional poems inspired by artworks, see The Poet Speaks of Art, a project designed by Harry Rusche, English Department, Emory University.
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