Icarus inferences
Name____________________________
Mr. Markarian
October 29, 2013
Allusion is a literary device that artists often use, in which the artist hints or directly refers to another more
famous work of art to help the reader make inferences. The story of Icarus is a famous one, so several
artists have used it in their work to help their audiences draw intriguing conclusions from the evidence the
artist has provided. Here are three such works.
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
William Carlos Williams
According to Brueghel
when Icarus fell
it was spring
a farmer was ploughing
his field
the whole pageantry
of the year was
awake tingling
near
the edge of the sea
concerned
with itself
sweating in the sun
that melted
the wings' wax
unsignificantly
off the coast
there was
a splash quite unnoticed
this was
Icarus drowning
Bruegal, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, c. 1558
“Icarus” by Bastille
Look who's digging their own grave
That is what they all say
You'll drink yourself to death
Look who makes their own bed
Lies right down within it
And what will you have left?
Out on the front doorstep
Drinking from a paper cup
You won't remember this
Living beyond your years
Acting out all their fears
You feel it in your chest
Your hands protect the flames
From the wild winds around you
Icarus is flying too close to the sun
Icarus's life, it has only just begun
It's just begun
Standing on the cliff face
Highest foe you'll ever grace
It scares me half to death
Look out to the future
But it tells you nothing
So take another breath
Your hands protect the flames
From the wild winds around you
Icarus is flying too close to the sun
Icarus's life, it has only just begun
This is how it feels to take a fall
Icarus is flying towards an early grave
You put up your defenses when you leave
You leave because you're certain
Of who you want to be
You're putting up your armor when you leave
You leave because you're certain
Of who you want to be
Icarus is flying too close to the sun
Icarus's life, it has only just begun
This is how it feels to take a fall
Icarus is flying towards an early grave