"Landscape with the Fall or Icarus"

This painting is interesting and contains a few subtleties which would have gone unoticed at first glance. My first impression of the painting was that it portrayed an ordinary day somewhere near the mediterranean coast. However, when given a closer glance, I found some interesting elements that I had not seen before. I saw the ordinary people, sheep, and plants in the foreground, and the beautiful landscape, sea, and ships in the background. I wondered if this painting had anything special or unusual and then I saw it! In the right corner of the page is a leg in the water which must be Icarus as he is falling into the water. The poem that also has the title of the painting really fits the piece well.

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

According to Breughel

when Icarus fell

it was spring

a farmer was ploughing

his field

the whole pageantry

of the year was

awake tingling

near

the edge of the sea

concerned

with itself

sweating in the sun

that melted

the wing's wax

unsignificantly

off the coast

there was

a splash quite unnoticed

this was

Icarus drowning

I think this poem exemplified what was seen in the painting perfectly,especially in the last two stanzas, when it speaks about Icarus being completely unnoticed. You could see the people and scenery going on with life normally as if nothing was amiss. However, if one looks closer, you could see a man drowning. This concept reminds me of our everyday lives. We can go through life without examining the smaller details and simply looking at the bigger picture and choose to be completely content. However, if we examine the seemingly normal world around us, we'll discover things and people out of order. Then if we choose to do so, we can make an impact on the world and other people's lives rather than being ignorant.

This painting and poem also reminds me of people who are bold and take risks. Icarus took a large risk by trying to escape and then flying too close to the sun. Instead of suceeding, his mission failed, but if he had suceeded, it would have been marvelous. This concept also applies to our lives. Some people go through life without taking risks, while others are brave and take chances which may or may not work. If someone takes a huge risk and suceeds, it's possible that they could make a better life for themself and gain great amounts of fame. However, if their plan doesn't follow through, they do something stupid, and don't suceed, then maybe no one will ever know about them. They might easily fall into the ocean and drown unnoticed like Icarus. So is it better to take risks with the chance of failing, or to take no risks at all with an assurance of safety? The decision is up to us in our own stories.