taj
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Posts: 14 
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Post by taj on Nov 20, 2017 16:51:43 GMT -6
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by William Carlos Williams implies that Icarus' death was part of a cycle. Perhaps since Williams specifically mentions that Icarus died during the spring, the reader can infer that it was related to some type of rebirth or growth. Even though Icarus himself was young, perhaps Williams intends to draw the conclusion that Icarus did not die for a reason exactly, but that his death was a representation of the way we in the current day use the knowledge, lessons, and mistakes of those before us to improve. Icarus was, in every since, a fool, this may even be why no one seems to react to his death even though it would appear to be sudden and unexpected. Williams also characterizes Icarus' foolishness with the word "unsignificantly" an obsolete version of it's modern-day counter part "insignificantly". Perhaps Williams uses this form of the word to denote the small differences between them. While insignificant implies that the importance is too small to be recognized, unsignificant is a complete disregard for importance as there is none. Williams really nails in how unimportant and normalized Icarus' death was, almost as if it was expected or an everyday occurrence. The splash is of course "unnoticed" which highlights the lack of appreciation of where we come from. Life continues on after death, almost as if no one knew you were there in the first place. The short and rather cryptic lines of each stanza mirror the normality of the situation. The text makes no special mention of Icarus' death and neither will the sentence structure or organization allude to his death being out of the ordinary.
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mari
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Posts: 13 
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Post by mari on Nov 26, 2017 1:55:57 GMT -6
I agree with Taj when he claimed that Icarus was apart of a cycle and by connection it to the spring is rebirth idea further justifies that. It's clear the Icarus was also neglected since everyone including the ocean had completely ignored Icarus as he drowned "a splash quite unnoticed this was Icarus drowning". "the edge of the sea concerned with itself" since the ocean itself didn't even pay attention to Icarus, this shows that Icarus lacked value and was completely unimportant enough to notice. I like to swing more towards the idea the Icarus lacks any value to everyone else rather than they let him die from being a fool.
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Post by jordan on Dec 3, 2017 0:00:25 GMT -6
I agree. Spring has a connotation of rebirth, a new start of life and placing Icarus' death in Spring is ironic almost because it contrasts the idea of Spring. I don't think Icarus was neglected, however, because saying he was neglected implies that he was abused in some form. I think that Bruegel deemed him as loosing importance because like Mari said everyone, including the ocean and the man at the bottom right hand corner looking dead at him, ignored him, while Auden in his poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" deemed Icarus' death as fate. Bruegel uses the word "unsignificantly" in line 16 instead of "insignificant." If he used the word insignificant, Bruegel would be saying that the death of Icarus is not important; if that was true, we wouldn't be talking about it. The made up word "unsignifcantly" implies that the significance is being undone, so that means that as Icarus is falling to his death, he is loosing importance in and to life. Using this invented word makes the poem more callous; the fact that each line is no more than four words, and each stanza has a different idea may contribute to time in the sense that life is short, and life will continue on in the midst of a tragedy.
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Post by akmaples on Dec 4, 2017 18:08:53 GMT -6
In William Carlos’, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”, he makes the argument that Icarus’ death was nothing more than just one part in a larger scale of events. I agree with Taj, that the reader can infer from Williams making it apparent that Icarus died in Spring, that this is a symbol of a rebirth, or new coming. I don’t think Williams was implying that Icarus’ death wasn’t unmeaningful but rather, that it was so irrelevant to the people around that it made a point. The point being, to be not radical. Williams uses “unsignificantly” instead of “insignificantly.” This is so the reader will look up both words and compare them. In doing so, the reader will notice that one is more significant than the other. This is “unsignificantly”, which means the event never had any attention to begin with, meaning it was irrelevant from the beginning. This is further shown in the poem, when Williams described the “unnoticed” splash of Icarus hitting the water.
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Post by Keviana S on Dec 7, 2017 20:46:13 GMT -6
In the poem, "Landscape with the fall of Icarus," William Carlos Williams reiterates the idea of no one ever recognizing Icarus accomplishments. Therefore, there is irony to his death in which his upward flight represents his ended tragedy. His death goes "unnoticed in the spring- a splash in the sea." I agree with Taj saying that "Icarus is a fool" because everyone seem to disregard his body falling from the sky with a quick "splash." I also agree with the idea that spring brings a connotation of rebirth and new life. I say this because in the spring flowers start to bloom again. We have Icarus who stand for someone that achieved more than man and achieve a lot in his life. He is in this case a hero. However, The farmer goes on with his business as usual and couldn’t care less. For him, Icarus’ death is just an insignificant splash that went unnoticed. So the author wants us to recognize the unconcern catastrophe of Icarus ongoing life.
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