Blog #10

Part One:
The authors Boland and Dove, of the poems "The Pomegranate" and "Persephone, Falling" respectively, use the myth of Persephone to convey to their audiences very different messages.  Although their poems are very different from one another, their interpretations of the myth make sense and both hold validity.  In "The Pomegranate" Boland begins by reflecting how relevant the myth of Persephone is in the life of the narrator.  She was first "an exiled child" and experiencing the world such as a young Persephone, and then switched roles to develop the more motherly point of view of Ceres.  In regards to raising her daughter, she believes that her daughter's wisdom will come to fruition by learning from her own mistakes.  By not interfering in her daughter's life and letting her develop down her own path, the narrator hopes that "the legend will be [her daughter's] as well as [her own.]  This connection is all she could hope for.  
Dove's poem "Persephone, Falling," is a much shorter and to-the-point warning of the trap that can be experienced when growing up.  As the title simply, but brilliantly explains, every child has the chance to 'fall' like Persephone did into the underworld.  Instead of letting your child grow and learn from the mistakes they make, the speaker in this poem sends a warning in order to avoid "how easily the pit opens" and have "one foot [sink] into the ground."  The poem does not want the child to experience the traumatic events that Persephone did, and therefore lays out rules of avoidance.  Both of these poems raise valid points and both are correct, although very different interpretations of the myth of Persephone.  

Part Two:
Icarus was the son of the imprisoned craftsman Daedalus.  Daedalus wanted his son to fly because he could no longer live out this dream of escaping himself.  He made Icarus a pair of wings made of feathers and wax.  Before the flight he warned Icarus not to fly near the sun because the wings would not be able to handle the heat.  However, Icarus got too excited during his flight and flew near the sun, thus melting the wax and causing him to fall to his own death in the sea.  In the poem "Musee dee Beaux Arts," Auden uses the myth of Icarus to show that life goes on during tragic times. Although Icarus was falling to his death because of his own mistake, life did not stop.  
Unlike the myth of Ceres and Persephone, where Ceres morned and avoided living six months of the year, the myth of Icarus presents real life circumstances.  Just because your life has been stuck with grief, the world does not stop to wait for you; you must find a way to catch up.