What are the main themes in W.H. Auden's poetry "Lullaby" (Lay your sleeping head, my love)?
Auden's "Lullaby," supports the theme that amidst the permanent difficulties of the world, there is temporal comfort and joy to be found in a lover's arms that can inspire hope for the future, even if that lover is imperfect.
The first two lines: "Lay your sleeping head, my love, / Human on my faithless arm" display a coaxing tone because the speaker, even though he sees himself as lacking, knows that peace will be found for both of them in each other.
Lines two through five illustrate the toll that time and sickness has on the world around them, which is exactly why the speaker asks the object of his devotion to remain in his arms "till break of day". It seems that the speaker knows that a brief reprieve from the world around them is exactly what is needed.
As the poem continues into the second, third, and fourth stanzas, the speaker demonstrates that the night spent together represents an escape from the very confines of time. He says, "Soul and body have no bounds: / To lovers as they lie upon / Her tolerant enchanted slope" (11-13).
Then, in lines 28-30, the speaker declares that every detail of their memories from their night will last forever. The beauty of those memories will hopefully sustain as the new day is ushered in by "the winds of dawn that blow/ Softly round your dreaming head" (32-33).
What is the theme of Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts"? What is Auden's attitude toward this theme or what is the tone of this poem?
The theme of the poem is that universal apathy to human suffering causes tragedy and pain. Auden attempts to showcase the consequences of such unfeeling behavior through the imagery of his poem. Written in a innocent, simple style, Auden's poem is much more accessible than many of the other major poems of the modern period.
Blunt and direct, this style highlights the indifference of humanity all the more. Readers of poetry are, by definition, attentive. For any reader appalled by widespread failure of attention, "Musee des Beaux Arts" is, like the plop of young Icarus into the green water, indelibly etched in the mind.
Throughout, Auden observes how individual suffering is ignored by the rest of the world. Most people continue with their everyday lives without paying any attention to extraordinary events going on, the kind that poets and painters usually depict. In particular, Bruegel shows the bizarre tragedy of Icarus falling from the sky as if it were utterly inconsequential to anything else.
Oblivious to what is happening to Icarus, no one is distracted from proceeding with business as usual.
What are the Main Themes in W H Auden's poem, What are the Main Themes in W H Auden's poem
