Musee des Beaux Arts

-          Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973)

(“Musee des Beaux Arts” makes a statement about human suffering and then goes on to support it with the example of a painting. It is a relaxed, reflective piece where the poet’s attention is more on the picture than on the audience.)

            The wise men of the past were not wrong about their understanding of the human suffering. Mostly, according to them, the human sufferings take place at odd times. A sufferer has to suffer alone. At the time when he suffers, others may be busy at their own work. They may be eating, or opening a window or just walking. While the old folk are waiting for God’s reincarnation so that He would rescue them from their suffering, the children may be enjoying their play. The wise men did not forget that even martyrdom goes unheeded by the surrounding people or things. The martyrdom takes place at an untidy place where dogs enjoy their doggy life and the killer’s horse enjoys scratching on its back against a tree. Neither the dog nor the horse is sorry for the sufferer.

            Icarus, the famous painting by Brueghel, presents the human suffering in a touching way. In the painting, a boy, Icarus, is falling into the blue sea from the sky. But nobody around the spot cares or thinks seriously about him. He was a lonely sufferer. The ploughman who was busy at his work in his farm might have heard the splash or the boy’s cry. He might also have seen a pair of white legs disappearing into the sea water, he didn’t think seriously about it perhaps because the sun was bright as usual. The sailors of a ship might have also seen the very strange scene, a boy falling from the sky, but they didn’t have time or interest in finding out the truth. The ship sailed on.