Human Suffering and Mortality in Auden and Larkin
Musée des Beaux Arts by W.H. Auden
Poetic Voice and Mood
Voice: The poem is written in the first person. As it is not directed at anyone specifically, it serves as a deep reflection.
Mood: The tone is neutral and dispassionate, adopting a distant and cold perspective. It conveys skepticism through facts noted with cool detachment.
Summary of Themes and Imagery
The poet reflects on the wisdom of the Old Masters (painters), specifically their understanding of the attitude others take toward human suffering. The poet discusses three pictorial themes: everyday life, the Nativity, and the martyrdom or crucifixion of an individual. He references classic paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries.
The core observation is that while someone suffers or something miraculous happens, others simply continue with their daily lives. Even during a martyrdom, nature continues its course. The poet then focuses on Brueghel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. In this painting, everyone is looking the other way: first the farmer, then the sun (representing nature), and finally the ship (representing the human community).
The Topic of Cosmic Indifference
The central theme is cosmic indifference to pain. It highlights the reality that the pain one feels is experienced by that individual alone.
Structural Breakdown
- Part A (Lines 1–13): Introduction and pictorial motifs. It illustrates how the old painters understood the human face of pain.
- Part B (Lines 14–21): Focuses on a specific painting, highlighting three distinct elements of indifference.
Next, Please by Philip Larkin
Poetic Voice and Mood
Voice: The poem is written in the first person. Rather than being directed at a specific individual, it adopts the voice of humanity.
Mood: In the opening lines, one can detect a tone of resignation, melancholy, and weariness, which persists throughout the entire poem.
Summary of the Poem
- The poet complains about our bad habits, specifically how we always postpone important things and never act in the moment.
- We observe the arrival of a "squadron of promises" that are agonizingly slow to arrive.
- However, even if these promises do arrive, they are never truly fulfilled.
- The present quickly dissolves into the past.
- Despite constant disappointments, we remain eager for the future to arrive, either because we hope for something good or simply because we have waited so long.
- Ultimately, the only future that truly reaches us is death.
Core Topic: Procrastination and Time
The poem serves as a critique of procrastination (putting things off). It indirectly refers to the classical concepts of Carpe Diem (seize the day) and Tempus Fugit (time flies).
Structural Breakdown
- Part A (Lines 1–8): The poet criticizes our eagerness and enthusiasm for the future, which causes us to neglect the present.
- Part B (Lines 9–19): This section demonstrates the disappointment felt when the expectations we held for the future go unfulfilled.
- Part C (Lines 20–24): The conclusion that the only certain future awaiting us is death.