William Carlos Williams’s ‘Landscape with the fall of Icarus’ | Exit Quiz | Oak National Academy

In the unit 'Myths and Legends', we look at three pieces of art about the same set of characters: Daedalus and Icarus. Starting with the first, put them in chronological order.

• William Carlos Williams’s poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'

• the Greek myth of the fall of Icarus

• Pieter Bruegel's painting 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'

Answer explanation

These 3 pieces of art all focus on the same 2 characters, but are expressed in different ways: a myth is usually told verbally, a painting is a piece of visual art and a poem is a text. Each adds layers of meaning and interpretation to one other.

A pupil argued, 'Pieter Bruegel's painting and William Carlos Williams's poem present Icarus’s death as trivial.' ('Myths and Legends') What does trivial mean?

• significant

• unimportant

• tragic

• hubristic

• humble

Answer explanation

Arguably, Bruegel presents Icarus's death as trivial by having the figures in his painting not notice his drowning. Williams, using Bruegel's painting as inspiration, mimics this, leaving Icarus's death to the last stanza of his poem.

In Williams's poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths and Legends'), the poet uses no (a)   throughout. This increases the pace we have to read the poem.

Answer explanation

Williams made a conscious choice to use no punctuation, and it is up to us, as students of English, to consider why. Possibly, the speed with which we have to read the poem mimics the speed with which Icarus plunges into the sea.

In Williams's poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths and Legends'), there is no punctuation at the end of any of the lines. What is this technique called?

• stanzas

• enjambment

• caesura

• alliteration

Answer explanation

Each line of Williams's poem is enjambed. This dramatically increases the pace with which we have to read the poem, perhaps reflecting the speed with which Icarus plunges into the sea, or perhaps that life will continue despite his death.

Williams's poem 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' ('Myths and Legends') is an (a)   poem, which means a poem which describes a piece of art, and is inspired by it.

Answer explanation

In his poem, Williams is both inspired by, but also describes, Bruegel's painting. In this way, the poem becomes a comment on the painting, adding layers of meaning.