Musee Des Beaux Arts Meaning

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Art is a beautiful thing. It is one of the only man made creations that can last longer than time itself. Many famous artists use their artwork to show the light in even the darkest of times. W. H. Auden has written several pieces of artwork. One of his most famous pieces is “Musee des Beaux Arts”. This story is named after the museum of Fine Arts, which is located in Brussels, Belgium. W. H. Auden gives his readers three main messages in his poem “Musee des Beaux Arts”, which are suffering, passivity, and choices.

The first message in W. H. Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux Arts” is suffering. From the start, Auden lets you know what this poem is about, suffering. Auden states on page 1177, “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.” Suffering is a natural part of life. It can happen to anyone, even when they least expect it. The human kind is suffering, and human nature doesn’t change. Therefore, since we have suffered, we will continue to suffer.

In W. H. Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux Arts”, the second message is passivity. There is a thin line between innocence and indifference. Auden states on page 1178, “How everything turns away quite leisurely
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H. Auden is choices. In his poem, Auden often references Icarus, and how he made the choice to fly to close to the sun. Auden says on page 1178, “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.” Nature doesn’t get choices. The sun doesn't get to choose if it is going to rise or not. The ship also made a choice to continue to sail as it watched Icarus fall out of the sky. Money and profits rank higher than

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