Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'
I can write a creative paragraph inspired by W.H. Auden’s ekphrastic poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'.
Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'
I can write a creative paragraph inspired by W.H. Auden’s ekphrastic poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts'.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- W.H. Auden’s poem ‘Musée des Beaux Arts’ is an ekphrastic poem.
- An ekphrastic poem is a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.
- Each painting which inspired Auden’s ekphrastic poem depicts tragic events.
- However, what inspired Auden were the people in the paintings who seem to have apathetic responses to the tragic events.
- Auden focuses particularly on the apathy of the ploughman in Bruegel’s painting ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus’.
Keywords
Plough - a large piece of farming equipment that is used to plant seeds and turn over soil
Ekphrastic - a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it
Apathetic - showing little interest or feeling in response to something
Old Masters - any person who is regarded as a skilled painter who worked in Europe before 1800
Martyrdom - death or suffering of someone because of their religious beliefs
Common misconception
Auden is saying suffering is unimportant.
Auden presents extreme suffering, but he is exploring how, inevitably, when something terrible is happening, something ordinary is happening at the same time too.
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Exploring W.H. Auden's poem 'Musée des Beaux Arts', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 english lessons from the Myths, legends and stories that inspire unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You need a copy of the poem W.H. Auden's 'Musée des Beaux Arts' from the Curtis Brown 1979 edition of Selected Poems, edited by Edward Mendelson.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Starter quiz
6 Questions
Daedalus and Icarus.
constructs wings so they can escape.
his son not to fly too close to the sun.
flies too close to the sun.
the god Apollo his wings, saying he will never fly again.