Explication "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus"

Summary-

The poem “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” is a poem describing Brueghel’s original painting “The Fall of Icarus”, and how Icarus is depicted as isolated and disregarded. Williams is focusing on the idea that everything around Icarus is “concerned with itself” that no one notices when he falls to his death, and that it all happens “quote unnoticed.” He is making a statement that people don’t see beyond their daily lives enough to notice significant things that go on around them. Williams keeps a theme which is consistent with many other of his works, which is the theme of isolation.

Analysis-

William Carlos Williams uses a lot of line breaks in his poem in order to convey his meaning. He gives certain words or phrases their own line such as “unsignificantly,” “a splash quite unnoticed,” and “the whole pageantry.” Putting these in their own line gives them more meaning by themselves, and contributes to the theme of not seeing. Describing the year as “pageantry” for example makes everything that the townspeople are doing (such as the farmer ploughing) seem like a sort of empty show or display. And even though all of this work they are doing is empty, they still don’t notice Icarus falling, and he is described merely as “a splash quite unnoticed,” even though this event should be significant. Describing the “whole pageantry of the year” as being “concerned with itself” also contributes to the theme of how people are too self absorbed and unseeing.

Poetry Continued

After reading all of these poems I came to the conclusion that three of them tended to lean towards a common theme, which was loneliness, neglect, and isolation. I noted in a previous blog that there was this similarity between “The Great Figure” and “Red Wheel Barrow,” but I also think that this theme exists in the poem “Landscape With the Fall of Icarus.” William Carlos Williams refers to Icarus as “a splash quite unnoticed,” which sort of dehumanizes him and makes him seem insignificant and isolated. Referring to him as a “splash” rather than a boy makes the reader care less about the subject, and therefore make the reader feel more like the farmer in the picture, who also only sees him as a splash. This is much like how the figure 5 in the poem “The Great Figure” goes unnoticed, or “unheeded” as Williams puts it. Calling the figure 5 “unheeded” and depicting it as “rumbling through a dark city” makes it look just as neglected as Icarus was. I think it would be interesting to write my essay about these poems and the neglectful nature of them, because they all seem to be touching on that subject.

Modern Poem vs. Reread Poem

After re-reading Red Wheel Barrow and being introduced to The Great Figure, I noticed that there were quite a few similarities between the two. Both of these poems have lines that consist of only one word, which suggests that that one word is more important. Both of these poems also focus on illustrating a setting, which both happen to include rain, and have one dominant figure in the setting. In the Red Wheel Barrow poem it is said that the wheelbarrow is depended upon, but it also seems like the wheelbarrow is somewhat neglected because it is left out in the rain. In The Great Figure poem it is said that the fire truck is “tense” and “unheeded,” meaning that people disregard it. The writer also says in this poem that the fire truck is moving through a “dark city” which, mixed with the rain, makes me think that the setting is cold and unforgiving in a way. I think that both of these poems are getting at the idea that people take for granted the most common things in life that we depend on, such as fire trucks and wheelbarrows. While the bright colors of the two main figures suggest that they should stand out, they are both mixed into a dreary setting and are seemingly forgotten by those around them.

A Leaf Falls

When I first read the poem “A Leaf Falls” I didn’t understand it at all. The only part that seemed coherent to me was the part that said, “a leaf falls” in parenthesis, but all of the other parts seemed like gibberish to me. Even on my second reading I didn’t understand what the poem meant at all, and I was very confused. It wasn’t until my third time reading it through that I realized that without the sentence in parenthesis it spelled out the word “loneliness.” After I realized what the poem actually said I started thinking about what it might mean. This being a very short poem it was a little difficult to try and analyze, so I had to read it a few more times. Then I started to think that the leaf falling symbolizes loneliness, and the idea of a leaf leaving a tree could be portraying leaving someone you love. A leaf falling also makes me think of autumn, which also makes me think of death and deterioration. So, this could be a poem about death and the loneliness that ensues after someone dies.