Text:
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 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.
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 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.
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.
After reading “Musee des Beaux Arts,” I believe that the poem is about a young boy drowning. While the poem depicts a tragedy, the poem also shows that the whole world does not stop when one dies. When the boy drowned, the poem stated that “everything [turned] away quite leisurely from the disaster.” The calm tone of the poem—in combination with the tragic fall of the boy—further support the idea that one death or tragedy does not have the power to stop all normal activity from occurring.
Paraphrase:
When it comes to suffering, they were never incorrect,
The old masters understood it very well
Its human nature, how it occurs
While someone else is doing something trivial, like eating or walking around;
How when the elderly are dedicatedly waiting
For the amazing birth, there always are
Kids who did not mean for it to happen, skating
At the pond on the edge of the woods:
They will never forget
That even the sacrificial death must end at some point
And in a corner, some unclean place
Where dogs go on with their lives and the cruel man’s horse
Scratches itself on a tree.
The old masters understood it very well
Its human nature, how it occurs
While someone else is doing something trivial, like eating or walking around;
How when the elderly are dedicatedly waiting
For the amazing birth, there always are
Kids who did not mean for it to happen, skating
At the pond on the edge of the woods:
They will never forget
That even the sacrificial death must end at some point
And in a corner, some unclean place
Where dogs go on with their lives and the cruel man’s horse
Scratches itself on a tree.
In Breughel’s painting, for example: how everything looks away
Quite care freely from the tragedy; the ploughman might
Have heard the splash of the water, the betrayed cry,
But for him he did not feel like he failed anyone; the sun shone
As it did on the white legs as they sunk into the
Water, and the ship must have seen
Something unusual, a boy falling from the sky,
But the boat had somewhere to go, and it sailed on calmly.
Quite care freely from the tragedy; the ploughman might
Have heard the splash of the water, the betrayed cry,
But for him he did not feel like he failed anyone; the sun shone
As it did on the white legs as they sunk into the
Water, and the ship must have seen
Something unusual, a boy falling from the sky,
But the boat had somewhere to go, and it sailed on calmly.
SW: The syntax of the poem includes several colons throughout the poem, as seen in the lines, “The old Masters: how well they understood,” “Its human position: how it takes place,” and “In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away.” The words before the colon commonly depicted a character or an ideal, and the words after the colon explained the thoughts or actions of the person or idea before the colon. In addition, the poem had very little evidence of rhyme scheme and was written in free verse. The poem had no definite beat, and it was broken into two stanzas. The poem uses simple, child-like diction to convey its ideas. For example, child-like diction is evident in lines such as, “dogs go on with their doggy life” and “its innocent behind.”
I: The imagery in the poem is based off the painting “Fall of Icarus” by Breughal. Breughal’s painting depicted a young boy who got too close to the sun and drowned in the ocean. The poem describes “a boy falling out of the sky” and his “white legs disappearing into the green.” The line demonstrates imagery connected to Breughal’s painting, in addition to bright imagery represented by the sky, in addition to dark imagery that depicted a young boy drowning. Imagery of death was further evident in the poem when the author wrote “dreadful martyrdom,” and imagery of life and brightness was further seen when the author wrote “the miraculous birth.”
F: The poem is an extended metaphor for the lonely nature of death. The drowning of the young boy depicted the idea that the loss of one life leaves little to no impact on the world. When the boy fell into the water, “white legs disappearing into the green/ Water… everything [turned] away/ Quite leisurely from the disaster.” Even the ploughman barely “heard the splash” as the young boy fell to his death. Therefore, the poem shows that even something as tragic as the death of the young boy is insignificant in the grand scheme of the world, and the poem figuratively represented the loneliness of death. In addition, the poem contained allusions to the Bible. “The miraculous birth” represented the birth of Jesus, while “dreadful martyrdom” represented the crucifixion of Christ.
T: The tone of the poem was nonchalant, despite the fact that it was an extended metaphor for loneliness in death. Lines such as “the miraculous birth” and “sailed calmly on” give the poem a tranquil and bright tone. However, the poem is an extended metaphor for the greatest symbol of darkness, death. Therefore, the bright tone provided a contrast to the dark message of the poem.
T: The theme of the poem is that no matter how bright the world appears, at some point, everyone will die alone, and the sun will continue to shine just as brightly despite the loss of life. The poem stated that “The old Masters” understood that it was just the way of the world that while others were performing trivial tasks, “dreadful martyrdom” could be taking place. And in the same place where “dreadful martyrdom” took place, a horse may be found “[scratching] its innocent behind on a tree.” The horse’s carefree action at the location where one lost their life demonstrates human apathy for the tragedies of others. Further, the poem depicted a young boy plunging to his death, but no one went to his aid. Instead, everyone continued on “quite leisurely,” and a boat even “sailed calmly on.”
Conclusion:
My concluding thoughts are the same as my initial reaction. The poem portrays the idea that the loss of one human life does not have the impact to stop the world from moving forward in its normal fashion. The poem conveys the idea that even “the dreadful martyrdom” will not last forever, and a place of death does not become consecrated ground, for the location of the martyrdom eventually became the place where a horse “[scratched] its innocent behind on a tree.” In addition, the poem conveys the idea that death is lonely, for when a young boy fell into the water and his “white legs” sunk, no one ran to his rescue. Instead, everyone continued on “quite leisurely.” Despite the dark message of the poem, the tone remained relatively bright. Therefore, the tone provided a contrast to the message of the poem that all people die alone, and the world will never cease to stop spinning at the loss of one human life.
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