Response to Poem: Musée des Beaux Arts

Musée des Beaux Arts is unique in the sense that Auden regularly writes poems that are story-like and contain narrative elements, but Musée des Beaux Arts is quite the opposite; being more like a summary of two paintings than having many poetical or narrative features.

Musée des Beaux Arts has quite a divide between the three stanzas. The first stanza is about a painting on the birth of Jesus; evident from the line; ‘the miraculous birth’. It almost comes across as being quite sarcarstic, saying: ‘the dreadful martyrdom’; seeming almost laughable at a serious event.

The first stanza is considerably longer to the other two; totalling at 14 lines- which is an odd length for a stanza to be; potentially emphasising the partial irrelevance of this stanza, or at a personal level, what Auden believes to be interpreted as the birth of Christ being irregular or unnecessary.

The first two lines state: ‘about suffering they were never wrong, the Old Masters: how well they understood’, which gives the impression that he almost idolises these painters, rather than the faith that he was brought up in (Catholic).

The 15^th line is interestingly placed on its own as a separate stanza to both the former and latter. It states: ‘scratches its innocent behind on a tree’. Auden is talking about ‘the torturer’s horse’ and the line seems rather comical and obscure in an observing poem. But hence the title, ‘observing poem’; it fits its requirements- as Auden wants to put a realistic, out-of-place twist on events, to make the reader question what has been fed to them from teachers and adults alike from a young age. By separating this line, Auden develops a sense of controversy, but makes it seem legitimate by talking of it as fact- and giving the impression that this painting is the unspoken reality.

In the last stanza, consisting of 8 lines; Auden talks of another poem that could have been overlooked in reality in the form of ‘Breughel’s Icarus’.

Auden gives the impression of it being a commentary with phrases such as: ‘for instance’; as he is merely commenting on others’ artwork, as a finishing touch to add to masterpiece already existing.

He states that ‘everything turns away quite leisurely from disaster’; which could be perceived as a response to how society acts, or a thought-provoking statement for the reader. He gives examples of people who do not care much for the death of Icarus, for ‘the ploughman’, it was not an ‘important failure’, so he took no action on the event. For ‘the expensive delicate ship’ that ‘must’ have seen, had ‘somewhere’ to get to so sailed ‘calmly’ on. As Auden puts the perspective of the loss of a boy to views of those who could easily be a member of society or the reader, the moral theme comes across more predominantly than the first stanza.

Auden chooses to use paintings that are quite oblivious to the events that are taking place, as he includes line such as: ‘while someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along’- giving the impression that he is quite a pessimist himself- not wanting to look at the millions of people given hope as a result of the birth, and the morals learnt from Icarus’ fall.

This relative ‘keep calm, carry on’ style Auden portrays could be a reflection on reality also. On a personal level, he witnessed the Spanish Civil War, and was alive through WW1; so has had to deal with circumstances that were unforeseeable, and then forgotten- potentially a reason for choosing these paintings, rather than ones that praised the birth or portrayed a message. This reflection on the reality of society is also partially shown- as in all fairness, there would not have been a large fuss made before Jesus was born- as then, Mary was just another pregnant lady, and Joseph was a poor carpenter- so no one would have stopped and been in awe before His birth.

Overall, Auden’s perspective is an interesting one- although it is not entirely his own, it still stimulates thoughts and reflections in the readers’ mind, but consequently, can make them more critical and judgemental of others’ actions as a result of Auden’s view; so the poem is not as morally flawless as one might expect from a poet potentially aiming for this outcome.