Musee des Beaux Arts/Palais des Artes

The imagery of the pond gives both poems a sense of timelessness and circularity, which strengthens the main idea of both poems that life goes on for the rest of the world no matter what is happening in the subject's personal world. In both "Museé des Beaux Arts" and "Palais des Artes", the formal diction, controlled imagery, and calm tones create an atmosphere of passionate restraint reinforced by the narrative arcs of Bruegel's Icarus and the lovers by the pond.

-Stacy