by CharlesT » Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:56 pm
Auden used the theme of the paintings, the ultimate inevitable loss of an idyllic Arcadian existence, to muse on the loss or domestication of nature, the final verse referencing emasculation by domesticity. It's a fine poem.
Showing my age, I can recall Auden being interviewed on television, possibly late '60's, looking like an ancient tortoise.