Summary of the Poem Musée des Beaux Arts by Wystan Hugh Auden

 

The painters of the ancient era had a clear perception of real life and the nature of human suffering. They were well aware of the fact that common people are least bothered about the suffering of the great entities. This nonchalance and indifference on the part of the common people have been minutely portrayed by famous painters of the ancient ages. These painters have also reflected in their paintings, how people go on with their daily chores, while great incidents are happening right in front of them and people are suffering terribly when these tragedies befall them. Great souls are undergoing excruciating pain, the ordinary folks concentrate on dull duties without paying any heed to them. The poet takes three instances from three famous paintings of Pieter Brueghel, naming, The Census at Bethlehem, The Massacre of the Innocents, and Landscape with the Fall of Icarus .

 In the poem, from line 3 to 8 , the poet describes the scene of the painting, The Census at Bethlehem, where, the children are skating on a frozen pond, when the Magi are eagerly and passionately waiting for the birth of Jesus Christ. The irony of the situation is that these people are completely unaware of the fact that a divinely miraculous incident is about to happen and they are not being able to witness it. The banality of the situation is reflected through the action of the people, nearby who are eating or opening the window or even casually roams about the street.

 In lines 9 to 13, the poet takes reference from the painting The Massacre of the Innocents. In that painting, the painter focuses especially they way animals are least affected by some tragic momentous event. While the ‘dreadful martyrdom’ of Jesus Christ is going on, the torturer’s horse scratches its back against the bark of a tree.On an untidy spot nearby, the dogs go on with their ‘doggy life.’

 In lines 14 to 21, the poet chooses the final reference of the famous painting named, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. The poet draws our attention towards the lazy way in which everyone turns away from the disastrous fall of Icarus, who has flown too near to the sun and as a result his wings made of wax and feather has started to melt. The ploughman who is ploughing the field must have heard the forsaken cry, but it is not of that importance to him. The crew of the ship, sailing in the sea must have seen a pair of white legs falling out of the sky and vanished into the green water of the sea. They were certainly astonished by the unusual sight of a boy, falling out of the sky, but they had to reach their destination as soon as possible. Therefore, they calmly sailed on without any attempt to rescue him.

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