Experiment 14: Retell a Myth
Orpheus and Eurydice
I had known Orpheus only as the head who sings,
I had not known of Eurydice and the beekeeper,
Her exile to the underworld and his pursuit,
All down to Hades where he allowed him her
But for one request,
He not turn back.
That cardinal sin of making certain,
Making certain of the shadow,
And the shadow dissipates,
And his head dismembered, now sings,
And I know him only now as the head who sings.
Not even blessed enough to be damned.
Returning to Bernadette Mayer’s experiments, in today’s experiment, I retell a myth. Mayer suggests: ‘read or write a story or myth, write it five or ten times at intervals from memory. Make a poem from this’.
I recently had another strange “quarandream” that my dream self (who was not myself it was another woman) and her lover (whom I had never met) had to go to what seemed to be Hell or the underworld and back, confront the dark overlord of the underworld, and manage to escape by the power of their love. Someone mentioned that this immediately reminded them of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the story of two lovers separated by the gods, and Orpheus’ quest to retrieve Eurydice from the underworld, confronting Hades himself to plead for her. Their mission fails because Orpheus turns to look back at her shadow, and she disappears back into the underworld forever. He is beheaded and his head is cursed to perpetually sing while flowing on a river. This myth (and dream) inspired me to write this poem. Reread it now in light of this, how does your perception change?
I had known Orpheus only as the head who sings,
I had not known of Eurydice and the beekeeper,
Her exile to the underworld and his pursuit,
All down to Hades where he allowed him her
But for one request,
He not turn back.
That cardinal sin of making certain,
Making certain of the shadow,
And the shadow dissipates,
And his head dismembered, now sings,
And I know him only now as the head who sings.
Not even blessed enough to be damned.
Follow up on the daily thought tomorrow, where I will expand upon this myth, the poem, and my strange “quarandream”.
Stay inspired.
