About suffering they were never wrong.

The Old Masters: how well they understood

Its human position; how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;

n      W. H. Auden, “Musee des Beaux Arts”

Discussion Questions:

1. Suffering is a general term.  What is a general term that sums up the detail in line 4?

2. Compare line 4 with the following:

            While someone else is not suffering;

     Why is Auden’s line more effective?

Apply:

Substitute the word laziness for suffering in line one of the poem.  Now rewrite line four to complete the following:

While someone else is __________________________ or _______________________

or ______________________________.

Your new line should give details about the opposite condition of laziness.  Use Auden’s line as a model.