English Literature / Unit 17 ENL 1603 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"Musée des Beaux Arts" and "September 1, 1939"
Captions available
The idea
"Musée des Beaux Arts," written in Brussels in December nineteen thirty-eight, uses Bruegel's paintings, including the fall of Icarus, to show human indifference to others' suffering. "September 1, 1939," written after Germany invaded Poland, turns to love; Auden later disowned its most famous stanza.
In practice
Icarus ignored; a poem on war's outbreak.
Where people slip
Some poem details rest on one reference source.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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