SpencerC

Musee Des Beaux Arts W.H. Auden Spencer Cunningham

[|Voice thread large version]

**Title-** Musee Des Beaux Arts is a museum in Brussels, Belgium that contains a number of works by Pieter Brughel and other European masters. The title is in French and has scholarly and artistic associations.
 * Paraphrase-** This poem is a discussion of the isolation of suffering and the idea that an event can be of great import to some and completely irrelevant to others.
 * Connotation—**extensive allusions to ancient thinkers, ancient literary works, and artwork. Sincere diction creating a true empathy towards, and understanding of, the message delivered.
 * Attitude –** the speaker is curious, possibly overwhelmed, and stoically sensitive to the idea suffering alone. While generally revealing little emotion, he occasionally betrays a telling thought or feeling through his word choice.
 * Shifts –** The shift between stanzas highlights the shift from biblical to classical allusion and sets the example of the fall of Icarus apart from the biblical references earlier
 * Theme –** suffering, isolation in emotion and thought, the indefinite impetus of life and living despite hardship, the meaninglessness of any particular action in the face of an uncaring and oblivious world
 * Title—**The museum provides a vehicle for the speaker to explore his convictions and thoughts on human suffering and how it should be interpreted and handled. It exposes him to ancient, biblical, and medieval thought, all of which highlights the pervasive theme of the world’s indifference to any one person.