1st in class essay "Landscape with the fall of icarus".

In "landscape with the fall of Icarus" by William Carlos Williams he suggests that every thing has a place and purpose by saying "a farmer was ploughing". Also in the picture "Landscape with the fall of Icarus" Brueghel shows that everything has a place, aand purpose like the man ploughing his fields, the man fishing, and the man herding the sheep. Their purpose there was to show that each person has something that they are ment to do, and when they do what they are not suppost to be doing, then there will be a consequence to pay. In Icarus's case he was not ment to fly, and he paid his consequence "death" for not doing what he was ment to do.

In the poem by W.C.W. he shows many different things like. He shows much personification when he says" the edge of the sea concerned with it self sweating like the sun" or when he says "of the year was awake tingling" . But what I think that Williams is trying to say is not only does everything have a place and purpose, but the human species is selfish,a dn careless. He shows thiswhen he says "off the coast there was a splash quiet innoticed" this is the fall of Icarus. But yet in Ovid's story/myth he states that people saw them flying, thinking that they were Gods. So if they saw him flying they must have seen him fall, and this is where human carelessness comes in, no one even bothered to lay out a hand to save Icarus even though they saw him fall. So I believe that that is what Williams was trying to say in this poem.

Now in Brueghel's painting he shows many different things like men oat work, the sun rising, and the far away town/village. The thing that I noticed the most in the picture was a splash which I didn't know who it was at first, but then I realized it was Icarus falling down to his death. But the thing that shcoked me the most is that there is a fisherman right next to the spot where Icarus fell to. And going back to the previous paragraph Williams is showing the carelessness of the humans in his poem, but so is brueghel in his painting. Obviously the fisherman saw Icarus fall, But why did he not help?. He did not help because he does not care, that shows the carelessness of humans. Or did he not help because everything and everyone has a thing that they are ment to do, Maybe he dosn't want to end up like Icarus paying a consequence for doing something that you are not ment to do. He saw what happened to Icarus and dosn't want to end up in the same position "DEAD"!!!. This is what I think but you decide.

Also in another related topic Ovid's story/myth about "Deadalus, and Icarus". This story is about the incidents leading to the fall of Icarus. The story is about Icarus's dad Deadalus, and what he made for Icarus. He made Icarus a pair of wings, and tells him don't go too low, or the water will weigh you dow, and don't fly too high or the un's fire will burn them . So when Icarus finally goes on the flight he flies to high, and goes crashing down into the water to his death. When Ovid said don't fly too high or too low, I think that any person can relate to this in real life. In other words don't allways be so happy, or to sad be in the middle where it is safe just be in calm, and relaxed never be too happy or too angry. The thing about this myth that I don't understand is why did Deadalus make the wings in the first place. Was he trying to not do what he is suppost to be doing?, did he want to act like the Gods?, or was he crazy? This we may never find out. And why did Icarus fly so high? was it that he could not control the wings, and it was some freak accident that a strange force controlled his wings and made him plummet to his death for trying to do what he was not ment to do.

I believe that these three sources the painting, the poem, and the story/myth are trying to teach us something, I think that the moral behind these three is do what you are suppost to be doing, and there willl be no consequence to pay. That no one needs to end up like Icarus. In "landscape with the fall of Icarus" William Carlos Williams suggests that everything has a place, and purpose in life.