Musée des Beaux Arts Themes

Anytime that a poem announce that it's about suffering, chances are…it's about suffering. But Auden makes sure that we know just how embedded suffering is in the other activities that occupy...

There's a thin, thin line between innocence and indifference. Sure, kids can get away with not caring about what happens in the world around them. Heck, animals couldn't care whether or not a revol...

Ah, highbrow poetry. How much snootier can you get than naming a poem after an art museum? Couple that with references to paintings and Greek myths, and you might think that this poem is aimed at a...

In Brueghel's painting that Auden references, Icarus chooses to fly too high. Men choose to keep their eyes down while he drowns. Brueghel chooses to depict all of this in a painting. Auden chooses...