What is the theme of Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts"?What is Auden's attitude toward this theme or what is the tone of this poem?

Poets are visual artists with their imagery just as the
great masters replicate scenes with paint.  W. H. Auden feels  admiration for the Old
Masters which he expresses in his poem “Musee des Beaux Arts.”  The title of the poem
refers to the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels,
Belgium. 

The painting that Auden refers to is “Landscape
with the Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Brueghel the elder. The painting reflects the myth of
Icarus who made wings from wax and went to fly.  His father warned him not to go to
close to the sun or the wings would melt. Icarus in his enthusiasm goes to close and
falls into the water.  The picture portrays the scene with everyone ignoring the
disastrous fall. The only indication of Icarus’s problem is his legs sticking up out of
the water.

Auden’s poem reflects understanding of mankind
in the paintings of the great artists of the past.  The poet notes that these artists
had a special  intuitive insight into the reactions of man to disaster. He refers to
three different paintings: the painting portraying the birth of Christ; the crucifixion
of Christ; and the painting of the death of
Icarus.

Theme

All of these
great paintings have something in common that the Old Masters
understood: man’s indifference to man.  When there are
paintings that portray the suffering of Christ or his birth, there will be children or
people in the picture who seem not to care what is happening in the rest of the
picture.  People eat and drink, dogs continue to act like dogs, and children continue to
play unconcerned that in the middle of the scene some great tragedy is
occurring.

readability="10">

…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. It turns out that when bad things happen to
people, other people are usually looking the other
way.

In extending this theme
 promoted within the poem, the poet's addresses
the passivity that some people feel with regard to the
suffering of others.  Children may  be expected not to understand the “human condition”
in a tragic situation.  On the other hand, adults who bury their heads in the sand so
that will not have to address the difficulties of other people shows an unacceptable
coldness.  

There are other people who handle others’
sorrows by saying that they are minding their own business are displaying a marked
indifference to their fellow man. A person does not need to be a hero, but he should at
least show some degree of empathy and
assistance.

To add to his theme, Auden
points out that man’s lack of support for another is not a new
issue. Humanity has been  indifferent since ancient Greek times to the
time of Christ to the world today. Disasters, tragedies and sufferings are a part of
life; they happen any time. But life has to go on.