from "musee des beaux arts"
w. h. auden

the poem is about the mythical character icarus who built his own wings with wax and feathers only to fly too close to the sun and fall to his death.

in breughel's icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
but for him it was not an important failure;

what is emphasized in both the painting and the poem?
a) that no one seems to care much about icarus's fall
b) that everyone seems very concerned about icarus's fall
c) that icarus's fall starts a great battle between good and evil
d) there are no points that are the same in the poem and the painting

A) That no one seems to care much about Icarus's fall.

Explanation:

In the poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" by Wystan Hugh Auden, the fall of Icarus is mentioned but as a means to show the indifference of others on the suffering of someone. The poem details how Icarus fell from the sky but no one paid it any attention. Auden points how

"the ploughman may

Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,

But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone

As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green

Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen

Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,

Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on."

Thus, both the painting and the poem emphasized how no one seems to care much about the fall of Icarus.

your eyes are the first things that you open