The Ploughman and We//Haylee Lynd
As Icarus falls from the sky, as Icarus falls to his death and lands in the water and drowns, no one but his father bats an eye, and even his father has to keep flying. Auden captures the image of this beautifully in "Musée des Beaux":
...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 go and sailed calmly on. (Auden 15-21)
These people have just seen a boy fall from the sky, but pay no attention to it or do not take any action after seeing it because they have work to do or places to be. When we think of the story of Icarus, we often forget these people who saw and ignored. Although someone has just suffered before their very eyes, they carry on. This is exactly what Auden conveys in this poem both in these lines of the second stanza and in the first.
Auden wrote this poem in 1938 but it is extremely applicable today. We see and know of so much suffering, but we continue on because, like the ploughman and the ship, we have work to do and places to be. If we do not know of the suffering, it is because we turn off the news so we do not have to hear about the latest shooting. The sad thing is this suffering is so normal to us. It is so normal that when we hear about it sometimes it does not even hurt our hearts. It rarely calls us to action, to tears, or even to prayer. Instead, our society is so apathetic to it all. Suffering takes place everyday and has little effect on us unless its on us. Unless we are the white legs disappearing into the water we rarely care. I hate it but Auden captures it quite well.
P.S. I commented on Emily Thullesen's and Madalyn's posts.
I agree that the story of Icarus applies well to the attitudes of people today, sadly. It is upsetting how little society seems to react to suffering. When it is addressed and there is an outpouring of grief and compassion through something like social media, very little time passes before the tragedy or sorrowful situation is forgotten. It is awful that the world has become so desensitized to the horrors that afflict many. Unfortunately, I feel like the influence of entertainment has caused people to become numb to suffering because of its depiction in shows and movies, especially through the use of violence.
ReplyDelete-Emma Landry
I chose this poem for the same reason. I completely agree with your assessment. It is truly tragic that we have become an apathetic society but it makes me wonder if this is only a recent response. How long has suffering been accepted as a normal part of everyday life? I think of history and how people still died everyday 500 years ago. The only real thing that has changed is the common causes of death (aka. Car accidents as opposed to the common cold).
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