In 1939, Wystan Hugh Auden fled from his home in Germany and came to America. The fascist regime of Nazi Germany was spreading across Europe like black ink spilt on a map. Never before had such destruction and terror been strewn across a continent in such a short period of time. As the boots of storm troopers cut trenches in the blood soaked earth, many found it easier to turn their heads than to stop the suffering of so many innocent European lives. In 1938, Auden visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels and views a painting called "Fall of Icarus" by Peter Brueghel. As they say, life imitates art, and this painting struck a chord with Auden, as he saw in it a very relevant example of the apathy and moral crisis which he was dealing within fascist Germany. There are many striking religious metaphors in Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts, and it seems as though he would suggest that perhaps we have strayed too far (ironically, much like the author) from the guidelines and redemption of Christianity, and that, without our devotion religion is therefore powerless.
As Christians, we are taught to believe that our lord, Jesus Christ, "will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." We are led to believe that his return, just as his first birth will be miraculous, opening the kingdom of heaven, and a final judgement will then commence. Those who await salvation will be saved, and those who seek redemption will be redeemed. One may come to believe that Auden actually mentions this judgement:.
".when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting.
For the miraculous birth, there must always be.
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating.
On a pond at the edge of the wood:" (Lines 5-8).
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When Auden speaks of "the aged who are waiting for the miraculous birth", he is referring to those who look to be redeemed and will be saved from revelation. In Nazi Germany, age was a sign of weakness; The aged were the meek and the weary, those who are truly God's children.