Farmer
The farmer is the main focus of the poem. He is portrayed as focused and industrious, taking care with his work and paying little attention to what is occurring in the background of the scene. His perspective is essential to the poem in that it reveals the way in which the supposedly important story of Icarus is nothing but a small detail in the life of this farmer. Like Bruegel was trying to show in his painting, Williams uses the figure of the farmer to elevate everyday life and mockingly downplay the famous Icarus myth.
Icarus
Icarus makes only a few brief appearances in the poem. He takes on a minor role in the poem, as he does in the painting on which it is based—his fall into the ocean being little more than a splash in the corner.
Icarus is a figure from Greek mythology who was gifted wings from his father Daedalus but did not heed his warning not to fly too close to the sun or the water, as his wings were made of wax and could be sensitive to either. Icarus instead flew too close to the sun, and his wings melted. He plummeted from the sky and drowned in the ocean. Williams uses Icarus as the farmer's obverse image; a famous story of mythic proportions is deemphasized in favor of a more everyday scene. By placing Icarus in the background of the poem, like the painting does, Williams is able to highlight how much perspective impacts the view of individual stories. The farmer is focused on plowing his field; he doesn't have time to contemplate Icarus's predicament.
Speaker
The speaker is an omniscient voice that does not appear as a figure in the poem. His tone is somewhat light-hearted and wry.
