I Disagree

"Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course"

-W.H. Auden, Musee des Boux Arts

I have been reading this passage repeatedly, trying to get a greater grasp and find a deeper meaning. When I think of children skating on a pond by the forest, I don't see deep, complex, social awareness happening; I see just the opposite. Laughter, carelessness, innocence, even euphoria. In many cases (though not nearly all), children are immune to the trappings and stresses of adulthood, and consequently, the world. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Another line stuck out to me as well:
"About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position; how it takes place"

In our world, tyranny, oppression, and cruelty abound. I even heard somewhere that their are more conflicts occuring right now than at any other point in history. However, I see a noticeable change among the peoples of our time. These behaviors are no longer seen in the same light as days gone by. I do not mean to sound naive; I fought in Iraq and have a pretty good idea of the worst man is capable of. But I look at the international pressure bestowed on the middle east process, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Darfur, and the famine currently racking Zimbabwe. Industrialized countries care, and I would bet that it is not merely over a desire for their resources. I would argue that as a generality, human beings have grown largely more humanitarian.

Concerning the stated line in the poem, I would have to disagree, and this ties in to what I wrote above. I do not think the masters of slaves understood the suffering inherent in slavery, or that Hitler completely understood the suffering of those in the concentration camps. I do not believe that Alexander the Great understood the suffering his Army imposed on all those conquered peoples, and I'm quite convinced that Oliver Cromwell did not understand the suffering of the Catholics in Ireland as a virtual genocide took place. Sure, all these people issued the orders, actively participated in, and saw the consequences. But I do not think anyone can fully understand how the human position takes place, because if they had, they would not have pursued the course they did.