Musee Des Beaux Arts is a notable literary work by W. H. Auden. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts,
Key info,
Summary,
Themes,
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Literary devices,
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Notes, to various questions of Musee Des Beaux Arts.
Summary
Musee Des Beaux Arts, it is a French language. It means Museum of Fine Arts. This poem tells the story of Daedalus and Icarus. Poetry has a real context. Auden visited a Belgian museum in Brussels in 1938. The poet of this poem has brought up the paintings of the painters he saw in the museum. The poet says that those great painters have depicted the thoughts of suffering people through their paintings. The poet wrote this poem inspired by that imagery. The language of their hearts is beautifully expressed through the images. But there is no such depth among the artists today. But Auden thought deeply about those characters. Talks about the Bible and mythology. The poet here basically talks about 3 types of people.
- Old masters or painters of the period.
- Suffering people and
- About a class of careless people. Whom the poet condemned.
While visiting a museum, the poet sees a painting that shows Icarus falling from the sun into the sea with wax wings. By this image, the poet means that when the people of the distressed class of society fall from the cliff like Icarus into the sea of sorrow, another class of people remain careless. The sufferings of those suffering people do not seem like anything to them. The people of one class are aware of the plight of another class but remain careless and do not come forward. By looking at the pictures of the museum, the poet expressed his deep thoughts in his poem.