![]() I'm not sure we could ever read enough poetry in the course of a school-year. I'm not even sure what enough poetry is. We have satisfied the curriculum and you are better readers of poetry, so is that enough? There are many, many more poets, guys, and enough Poems You Must Read to last us for months. There are so many more poetry induced shivers to be had! (Just please go read this right now, because we might not/probably won't have time to do it justice, but just go now, now! and read this.) But maybe that's the point -- I'm not sure we should ever feel like we've read enough poetry. (This is how I feel -- read this, too) I have found our poetry unit both incredibly inspiring and somewhat frustrating. I am, as always, impressed and inspired by what you students find in literature, and the series of poems we've studied has been no exception. A few memorable moments for me have been:
For this blog post, I'd like you to read, post, and reply. Let's treat this, as much as we can, like a class discussion. I ask that you stay curious and think less about how accurate or academic your comments sound and think more about how authentic they are. 1. Read "Musee des Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden. (One of the last poems in your anthology) 2. Post a comment in which you discuss the content of the poem -- what it might mean, how the poet achieves what he does, what is striking, what is memorable, what makes this poem great-with-a-capital-G. 3. Reply to a classmate's post. * New Critical approach & Reader Response both acceptable. * No shortcuts or study sites until after your initial reading and post. Comment & Reply posts DUE by MONDAY, MARCH 9.
56 Comments
Ashley Boothe
3/6/2015 04:10:24 am
This poem, in my personal opinion, is about the concept of ignorance is bliss when it comes to suffering. Everyone in their lives at some point has suffered. It could be the loss of a family member, a friend, a home, motivation, or something. Maybe you lost nothing and suffer in silence because of something beyond your control such as a terminal illness, disability, or a rumor going around about you.
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Mrs. H
3/7/2015 02:51:26 am
Woo woo, Ashley. Ignorance is bliss literally in the poem, yes?
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Ryan Moore
3/9/2015 09:33:12 am
I agree with what you said about how it isn't completely bad that we block out all the tragedies going on in the world. If we were aware and acknowledged all of them we would drown in guilt and destroy ourselves.
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Cailin Mosser
3/6/2015 05:41:48 am
W.H. Auden captures the blindness of human nature in this poem. It's like, if a tragedy doesn't effect me or someone I know, then it's none of my business and I don't have to act. Then that's where morals come in. It is morally right to save the drowning child, to help the elderly across the street, but too many times we are caught up with our own lives that we don't take time to notice or time to care.
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Mrs. H
3/7/2015 02:52:17 am
Good! But is the turning away intentional?
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Stephanie Johnson
3/6/2015 05:57:26 am
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Mrs. H
3/7/2015 02:53:01 am
Great comments on diction!
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Liam Redding
3/6/2015 07:56:33 am
My first step in figuring out this poem was to find out what the title translated into. After a quick google search I came to find that "Musee des Beaux Arts" stands for "The Museum of Fine Arts". Next, I read the poem and tried to find out how it related to "The Museum of Fine Arts".
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Mrs. H
3/7/2015 02:54:50 am
Liam Sniper Redding! Yes! Beautiful last line. (A slam dunk! Omg, sorry.)
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Susan Margevich
3/7/2015 03:19:14 am
I agree with everybody who's already posted, but in effort to not reiterate previous standpoints, I'm going to argue that this poem is about perception.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:24:52 pm
Nice! Glad you brought up on waxen wing-ed man, Icarus.
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baleigh payne
3/12/2015 04:04:03 am
Thats good insight
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Dani Matthews
3/7/2015 08:34:40 am
W.H. Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts is about how everyone and everything continues doing what it does around big events, and even after a "dreadful martyrdom," people will continue on with their normal lives. With the exception of the children who did not want a new sibling, the people and animals are not ignoring what's happening; they're just ignorant to it.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:25:44 pm
D -- awesome! Happy to see you took this one step further to discuss the painting itself. I think you're right.
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Hannah Cherry
3/7/2015 09:30:26 am
To me this poem is about going on with life after something out of the ordinary has happened. The first stanza describes the different people going about their lives oblivious to anything else going on. The forth line "While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along" shows how life continues on for other people even when something for someone else goes differently. After someone has gone through something that is out of the ordinary they get a glance at this feeling that the world just keeps moving without them. This poem describes that feeling by showing all of these peoples lives. Then in the second stanza Auden writes a more specific example using Icarus. Icarus is a reference to Greek mythology about a boy who is wearing wings made out of wax and feathers, ignores his fathers warnings about the wax melting, and flies too close to the sun. He then falls to his death because the wings break. This event is so meaningful to him because he is taking place in it and it is out of the ordinary, but Auden highlights the point that life goes on by mentioning the people on the boat who keep going on with their daily lives after they have seen it like nothing happened.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:28:12 pm
Love you're working your Greek myth knowledge! Maybe let's talk about what Icarus was trying to escape?
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Brittney Brodnan
3/7/2015 03:02:14 pm
I can honestly say that I agree with Susan's response 100%. Sometimes we take things for granted, such as clothing and food for example. Somewhere in our neighborhood, town, state, country, continent - people need clothes and food but we take these things as an everyday lifestyle.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:27:19 pm
But what of suffering B-squared? More on the suffering..."About suffering they were never wrong..." What does that even mean? :)
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Alexis Bush
3/8/2015 01:12:28 am
When reading the first few lines of the poem "Musee des Beaux Arts", I thought of slavery. It refers to the masters and how they understood that its human position. When everything else was going on like normal, slaves understood it was their duty to do the strenuous work they were doing. Part of me thinks the whole poem is about this concept, and part of me thinks it's not. In the idea that it is, it says "they never forget" meaning that later generations never forgot the concept. The innocent children didn't want it to happen as they continued with their innocence being forced to allow it to. Even when tragic things are happening, everyone continues with life as normal. The last paragraph of the poem idealizes how everything continues even when people are dying and the world is ugly.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:29:25 pm
Lovely analysis -- love that you're pushing your thinking.
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Jonathan McGuire
3/8/2015 03:57:25 am
Musée des Beaux Arts is about humanity's underlying mortality and its attempts to ignore it. Auden juxtaposes the elderly person waiting for the miracle of childbirth to the young, naive ice skaters to prove this point. Auden goes on to say, "They never forgot that even the dreadful martydom must run its course," referring to the elderly, who bear the burden of life and death at their heaviest moments.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:30:56 pm
Nice, J Mc! Convincing analysis indeed.
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Travis Krauch
3/8/2015 05:09:57 am
The structure of the poem makes clear its subject. The first phrase is inverted, which pushes the phrase's subject to the beginning of the second line to emphasize "The Old Masters", referring to European painters prior to 1800. This technique is repeated throughout the poem for the same effect.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:31:47 pm
Nice! Glad you could clear up "the Old Masters" for us. :)
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Leah Smith
3/8/2015 05:26:53 am
To me, "Musée des Beaux Arts" by W. H. Auden focuses on suffering, but even more on how we ignore it. But I believe that we aren't truly ignoring what's happening around us. We all tend to have our guard up and constantly be waiting for something awful to happen, but it never does until we least expect it. So maybe we're always looking for the suffering of others so we can help, but their pain is never truly shown until we least expect for it to be there. Along with that, society has pushed for everyone to "be yourself". It's possible that we've been so caught up in our own lives and problems that we forget other people go through similar or worse experiences. We have to be able to balance the pain of others along with our own suffering. I agree with Liam's post that maybe we truly can't see the pain and suffering of others no matter how hard we try to relate.
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Mrs H
3/8/2015 12:34:27 pm
Or perhaps we're really the ones suffering? Just a thought...
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Tania Boh
3/8/2015 06:41:25 am
I would have to agree with Ashley on the theme of ignorance is bliss.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:36:07 pm
Nice, Ms. Boh! Yeah, I agree on the becoming helpless thing. How related to suffering you think?
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Erica Conaughty
3/8/2015 08:53:03 am
After first reading the poem through, I did the same as Liam did by translating the title into "The Museum of Fine Arts." I think that Auden must have gotten the idea from seeing the Icarus painting in the Museum. The first stanza talks about how it is really only human of us to suffer. Everyone has gone through something. "how it takes place while someone is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along." This line, to me, is that sometimes you don't know how what people are going through just by seeing them. You really never know.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:38:14 pm
Great thinking, Erica! Because what happens when we allow ourselves to feel?
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Jordan Fain
3/8/2015 11:33:32 am
I agree with Ashley that the theme is ignorance is bliss.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:40:29 pm
Jordan, you have successfully picked out one of my favorite lines in all of poetry.
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Rachel Chapman
3/8/2015 12:15:02 pm
After reading everyone's inputs, I feel like I'm right there with them. Auden's main point in in "Musee des Beauz Arts," is like Ashley said, ignorance is bliss. He states that although terrible things are happening around us, we tend to over look other people's tragedies in order to focus on our own lives. Auden uses the example of "Breughel's Icarus, for instance : how everything turns away
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 12:42:18 pm
So, evidence that people will never change? :)
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Mooney
3/8/2015 01:46:52 pm
Guys.
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Mrs. H
3/8/2015 01:50:46 pm
Ladies & Gentlemen: Mr. Mooney!
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Mooney
3/8/2015 01:54:59 pm
Mooney, you fool, you hit submit with your big, stupid fingers.
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Karla Hilliard
3/8/2015 02:10:26 pm
THANKS, buddy! Not surprising, but I agree. And oh my god if I'm not thinking of the same Peter Gabriel song!
Nikki Schlapo
3/8/2015 01:49:19 pm
This poem has a lot to say about suffering, but I think it's more about how people react to suffering. Everyone has experienced suffering for themselves, but sometimes it's different when it's someone around you. It could be a moral issue, but that's not always the case. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I don't respond to other people the way I probably should. I know that I've seen someone crying and thought that I should try to comfort them, but I was uncomfortable in the situation so I pretended not to notice. Now, I know that sounds rude,but it's the truth. Suffering's human position is that it brings out the empathy in some, and the apathy in others, and I think that's what the poem is talking about.
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Katie King
3/8/2015 02:03:31 pm
Everyone pretty much hit the meaning of this poem right on the head, ignorance is bliss and the problem of the blindness of society. People in general are self-centered at heart. They have to try to see others before themselves, which is hard for most to do. In this poem people are going about their own lives like the farmer and the ice skating kids. When something happens to someone else that would change their own agenda they ignore it and continue on seeing what they want to see. By describing these scenes Auden is telling people to open up their eyes. If we only focus on what is happening in our own lives then we can miss something amazing, like what Auden described as "miraculous birth". Or in the second stanza, something tragic like the drowning of the young Icarus. By being less self-seeking one can learn and grow as a person, which is what I believe W.H.Auden is trying to preach to society in "Musee des Beaux Arts".
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Lex Reyes
3/8/2015 02:29:19 pm
Like everyone, I think it is about how people want to overlook other people's misery because they have their own problems. One line that stuck out to me was "That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course." Is this saying that suffering is inevitable? That somewhere someone will always be suffering somewhere? That's pretty sad. To sum up this poem: People will suffer and life will go on.
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Annyssa Greene
3/8/2015 03:26:23 pm
Lex,
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Annyssa Greene
3/8/2015 03:18:06 pm
I agree with everyone else. This poem is about how humans would rather worry about their own pain and misery than to go out and help someone who suffers more than them. The lines,
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Austin Custer
3/8/2015 03:20:06 pm
The poem is literally about suffering, about how people turn a blind eye to suffering if it doesn't pertain to them. But don't think this is necessarily a bad thing that the poem is pointing out because we've become so adaptive to suffering that we try to avoid it. That's human nature but it's also saying that life goes on that sure you can suffer but take note that your suffering will not stop the world around you so thicken up and continue on just like the rest of the world does. Earth will not stop for you, people will not stop for you, you just have to try your hardest to keep up with it all.
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Noelle McKenzie
3/8/2015 03:36:36 pm
I agree with what most people said on the theme of ignorance is bliss. I think that people tend to overlook suffering by continuing on with there everyday lives. In society, people get so used to hearing about tragedies that it doesn't effect them unless there is personal involvement. It is also easier to deal with suffering if you just ignore it.
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Olivia McGoldrick
3/8/2015 04:08:05 pm
Well first I wanted to start off my comment by saying that I really enjoyed this poem. (probably one of my favorites)
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Haili
3/8/2015 04:17:21 pm
When first reading W.H. Auden's poem "Muses does Beaux Arts" I was confused. Mostly because of the lack of caffeine in my system, but also part of me was just mind-boggled by this. Does society really function like this? Do we choose to ignore others suffering for our own happiness? Why in the world that we live in; is this a classic archetype? "Ignorance is bliss" we all repeat to ourselves in a creepy "drink the koolaid" type of voice. Well, that's what this poem is saying. I completely agree with Ashley Boothe on this one.
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Bri
3/8/2015 05:16:14 pm
Haili,
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Hope Spriggs
3/8/2015 05:35:36 pm
That's exactly how I felt except it didn't come as much of a surprise to me. People do this everyday. Think about it. In school there are those kids that don't have any friends. They never did anything ot anyone they just weren't in the right place at the right time to make them. We all see that person or those people and we just keep on walking. We don't try to go out of our way for them. I know everyone is going to say that they would, but really there might be two. The truth is it is a "drink the koolaid" type of society we live in. Whether we are talking ignorance is bliss or a universal beauty standard this is the world we live in. Its sad, but oh so true. I agree completely with what you have said and there is nothing else we can add to it.
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Brianna Norris
3/8/2015 05:05:20 pm
After reading over "Musée des Beaux Arts" by W. H. Auden a few times, the poem translates to me that in reality we tend to forget that there are going to be many people we meet or talk to every day who are struggling with something whether it is unknown or just unspoken. It is inevitable, and sort of selfish of us humans to put our happiness over sympathizing others suffering. At the same time, once we are truly happy in life we don't want anything to hamper it. We hate negativity. "Ignorance is bliss" comes to mind, as everyone else has agreed; we say our sorries and go about our merry lives -- to never think of it again. This poem makes me think of playing games as a child, where you draw a card or roll the die and advance in the game but your crush has to go back some steps. You have this bittersweet feeling of being happy that you're winning in combination with feeling bad for your crush who isn't doing well. You're happy that you're winning even though someone is losing. You're even guilty that you are so happy and excited about winning! Sadly, this applies to more serious subjects in life. Is it just simply human nature?
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Brock Adams
3/8/2015 05:14:31 pm
After my first time reading this, I was pretty confused in what it was trying to say. However, after reading it a few more times, a clear message came to me. This poem is about how people do not pay attention to the disasters and terrible things around them. It expresses that through all of the terrible things, people just turn their heads to continue on in their lives. However, what is interesting is that the poem does not push the reader to feel a certain way about the topic. Instead, it simply seems to explain the whole ordeal and that is it; I believe this is because the author is basically saying that this act by the human race is solely human nature and nothing to truly be ashamed of. This is by far one of my favorite poems because I think it is so interesting how I was not pushed to feel one way or another; rather, the topic is just brought to my attention. I find it an extremely interesting technique.
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Brock Adams
3/8/2015 05:16:58 pm
p.s. Obviously I agree with the majority of people in this discussion board as after reading through everyone's comments after I posted mine, a lot of people are saying roughly the same thing.
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Hope Spriggs
3/8/2015 05:27:14 pm
When I was first reading "Musée des Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden I was slightly confused. I was wondering why the poet spent so much time talking about what else was going on in the scene that the poem takes place. I kept thinking "why are they wasting so much time?" After realizing that the real action in the poem was the boy dying I almost had a heart attack.
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Mary
3/9/2015 06:34:14 am
I agree with Ashley on the idea that the theme of the poem is "ignorance is bliss." It would be extremely overwhelming and nearly impossible to continue on with life if everyone paid attention to all of the tragedy in the world. I also thought it was interesting at the end of the poem when Auden wrote, "the sun shone as it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green water, and the expensive delicate ship must have seen something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky." I thought it was strange that he described the boy falling out of the sky as "amazing" and that maybe this could be a reflection on how sometimes society romanticizes tragedy.
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Ryan Moore
3/9/2015 09:22:13 am
The poem captures the essence of one of humanities basic traits. If we don't see it we don't care about it. We won't go out of our way to help someone or something if we don't know they are in trouble. And even if we do know we won't do anything until it is brought straight to our face. And when that happens we usually feel guilt. Ignorance is bliss.
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Jantzen
3/10/2015 02:02:56 pm
I agree with Susan and the others who posted about taking what we have for granted. This poem is very meaningful and shows how we can overlook and complain about what we don't have Alegre there are others out there with so much less.
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