Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.
W. H. AudenRead
In Brueghel’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; the sun shone As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green water, And the expensive ship that must have seen Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky, Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the indifference of the world to individual tragedies amidst everyday life.
W. H. Auden's quote illustrates how life goes on in the face of personal disasters and tragedies. It highlights the contrast between the monumental events that may occur at a local level, such as Icarus's fall, and the indifference of the world around him, symbolized by the ploughman and the ship that ignore the tragedy as they continue with their routine lives. It serves as a poignant reminder that while individual suffering may be significant to those directly affected, it often goes unnoticed by a world preoccupied with its own concerns.
Themes
IndifferenceTragedyLifeDisasterRoutine
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of acknowledging the struggles of others.
More from W. H. Auden
All quotes →That the speech of self-disclosure should be translatable seems to me very odd, but I am convinced that it is. The conclusion that I draw is that the only quality which all human being without exception possess is uniqueness: any characteristic, on the other hand, which one individual can be recognized as having in common with another, like red hair or the English language, implies the existence of other individual qualities which this classification excludes.
W. H. AudenRead
Nobody knows what the cause is, though some pretend they do; it like some hidden assassin waiting to strike at you. Childless women get it, and men when they retire; it as if there had to be some outlet for their foiled creative fire.
W. H. AudenRead
History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
W. H. AudenRead
Music is the best means we have of digesting time.
W. H. AudenRead
'Healing,' Papa would tell me, 'is not a science, but the intuitive art of wooing nature.'
W. H. AudenRead
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