1. Auden opens the poem with an inversion. Instead of saying, “The old Masters were never wrong about suffering,” he says, “About suffering they were never wrong, the old Masters...” What is significant about this launch to the poem? How does the inversion change the line’s impact? 2. This poem is free verse, meaning it does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other noticeable formula. Auden does, though, occasionally rhyme some of his lines. Identify at least three of Auden’s rhyming pairs of words and explain why you think he chose to join those specific lines.
3. In the last stanza, Auden specifically refers to the Breughel painting. He says that “everything turns away” from the disaster. List three people/things in the painting that have turned their backs on the drowning teenager.
4. What is the theme of the poem?
5. Do you think the people in the scene heard/noticed Icarus falling from the sky or do you think they were all so absorbed in their own busy lives that they didn’t notice at all? Does one way or the other change Auden’s theme?
6. Both Breughel and Auden seem to be suggesting that people notice but are indifferent to the suffering of others. Do you agree with this idea or not? Give two concrete examples from your life or studies to support your stance.