Click to read "The Story of Icarus and Daedalus," by Ovid and "Musée des
Beaux Arts," by W. H. Auden. Then answer the question.
Which line(s) from the poem parallel(s) this portion of Ovid's myth?
Icarus, the boy, stood and watched, unaware that he was
witnessing his downfall. Sometimes he ran to gather up
the feathers which the wind had blown away, and then
handled the wax and worked it over with his fingers,
making it difficult for his father to work. When at last the
work was done, Daedalus, waving his wings, found himself
lifted upward and hung suspended, hovering in the air. He
next made wings for his son, Icarus, and taught him to fly,
as a bird tempts her young ones from the lofty nest into
the air. When all was prepared for flight, he said "Icarus, my
son, you must keep at a moderate height, for if you fly too
low the damp air from the sea will clog your wings, and if
you fly too high the heat from the sun will melt them. Keep
near me and you will be safe." While he gave these
instructions and fitted the wings to his son's shoulders,
Daedalus' face was wet with tears, and his hands
trembled.
A. the ploughman may / Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry. /
But for him it was not an important failure;
B. None of the lines of the poem focus on this part of the myth.
C. the expensive delicate ship that must have seen / Something
amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
D. everything turns away/ Quite leisurely from the disaster