MetaChat - I read this poem by Auden

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12 July 2014

I read this poem by Auden a couple days ago and can't get it out of my head: Musee des Beaux Arts. Even the phenomenon he's talking about is so universally true, I can recall experiencing how jarring it feels for a horrid day for me to be bracketed by the ordinariness of the goings-on around me for everyone else.

post by: Firas at: 17:04 | 4 comments

Yes, it's certainly thought-provoking that life goes on around us when our own worlds are crumbling. I didn't know that poem, or the painting. Thank you so much for those.

posted by Senyar 13 July | 10:36

One of my English professors freshman year discussed it in class and passed around a postcard of the painting. Icarus was barely noticeable on the card, but I was able to see the painting IRL in Brussels and his legs are a bit more conspicuous.

posted by brujita 13 July | 15:17

That's cool, Brujita! Yeah I had to look at the painting carefully on wikipedia to find Icarus

The part of this poem that gives it the "stuck in my head" quality is this line: "Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky". Just a beautiful line, and so poignant in the context of Icarus and what Auden is getting at. "Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky…"

posted by Firas 13 July | 16:11

Yeah, that's one of the greats.

posted by Miko 13 July | 21:35

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