William Carlos Williams 'Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus'

The painting Landscape With the Fall of Icarus, by Bruegel, and the poems This Heavy Craft by P.K Page and Landscape With the Fall of Icarus by William Carlos Williams, are all interpretations of the well-known tale of Icarus. Although the subject of Icarus remains constant in all three sources, the interpretations differ under a single theme that can be applied to their works; the concept of a dreamer whose dreams remain unfulfilled. We can approach this idea by dividing their work by who is narrating the story: Page’s poem was narrated by Icarus, while Bruegel’s and Williams’ pieces depicted the world through the eyes of Daedalus. Firstly, Page creates a world in which the reader is exposed to the thoughts of Icarus, after his demise. The poem demonstrates the notion of desiring more from our failures, and being

Secondly, we know that Daedalus and his son were imprisoned due his creation of the Labyrinth. Tired of oppression, Daedalus decides to escape with Icarus, in hopes of a better life. As spring (symbolic of life and rebirth) dawned, the wings that would carry them to their freedom were completed. On the day of their escape, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, as the wax holding the wings together would melt, nor fly too low, as the sea mist would dampen the feathers. However, soon after their escape, Icarus forgot his father’s warnings, and flew too close to the sun, the wax on his wings melting and plunging him into the ocean as his father watched. Therefore, in Brueghel’s work, Icarus drowning embodies Daedalus’ dreams of freedom and a better life for his son also dying. Lastly, Williams’ interpretation symbolises the ironic reality of life; oftentimes, we must watch the world give birth to new dreams while we watch our own dreams die before us. The poem, which was largely inspired by the painting by Bruegel, demonstrates this through lines 4-6, in which a farmer ploughs his