Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=220 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Practical Spirituality"><U>WMEades.com Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.counseling-waco.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.counseling-waco.com"><U>Counseling-Waco Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://wacopartnership.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://wacopartnership.org"><U>Waco Partnership for Psychological and Spiritual Care Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://practicalspirituality.wordpress.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://practicalspirituality.wordpress.c"><U>Practical Spirituality Blog</U></A></div> <div> _________________________</div> <div> <A HREF="aboutme.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Me and My Work"><U>About Me and My Work</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id518.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Making an Appointment"><U>Making an Appointment</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="policies.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Policies"><U>Policies</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="cost.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cost of Counseling"><U>Cost of Counseling</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="helpfularticles.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Helpful Articles"><U>Helpful Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="directions.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directions to Office"><U>Directions to Office</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="booksummaries.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Summaries"><U>Book Summaries</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="counseling.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pastoral Counseling"><U>Pastoral Counseling</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="premarriage.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Premarriage Counseling"><U>Premarriage Counseling</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="enneagram.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Enneagram"><U>The Enneagram</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id494.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alcoholics Anon. Mtgs."><U>Alcoholics Anon. Mtgs.</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="faith.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="When Faith Doesnt Work"><U>When Faith Doesn't Work</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.theravive.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.theravive.com"><U><IMG SRC="83da03c0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#EEEEEE" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> A friend of mine who'd wrestled with major depression told me that when he finally crashed and entered the hospital, he spent the first several days sleeping on the floor of his room.  His comment was, "Icarus had fallen."  You may recall that Icarus was the Greek god who flew too close to the sun, melting his wings of wax and feathers.  His fall has become a symbol for many who've been driven to the ground by painful circumstances.</div> <bR> <div> More recently another friend was reflecting on the strange awareness that life was continuing to go on around her, unaffected by the difficulties with which she was confronted.  She expressed a connection to Auden's poem about the fall of Icarus.  Auden references the painting by Breughel (below) in which business is continuing as usual while Icarus, barely noticeable, sinks into the sea.</div> <bR> <div> There are indeed times in life when we are almost forced to acknowledge that our personal stories have such little impact on the world around us.  This can be, of course, incredibly distressing, but it can also offer an important step towards letting go of the need to be noticed.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Musee des Beaux Arts</B></I> </div> <div> W.H. Auden </div> <bR> <div> About suffering they were never wrong, </div> <div> The Old Masters; how well, they understood </div> <div> Its human position; how it takes place </div> <div> While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along; </div> <div> How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting </div> <div> For the miraculous birth, there always must be </div> <div> Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating </div> <div> On a pond at the edge of the wood: </div> <div> They never forgot </div> <div> That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course </div> <div> Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot </div> <div> Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse </div> <div> Scratches its innocent behind on a tree. </div> <div> In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away </div> <div> Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may </div> <div> Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry, </div> <div> But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone </div> <div> As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green </div> <div> Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen </div> <div> Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, </div> <div> had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1db65ac0.png" border=0 width="613" height="428" ALT="WordPerfect 10 Document" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> </tr></table></body>