Eurydice – Lola's Curmudgeonly Musings

Odilon Redon Orpheus pastel on paper — “Orpheus” (nd, pastel on paper)
by Odilon Redon

“Yet the story of Orpheus, it occurs to me, is not just about the desire of the living to resuscitate the dead but about the ways in which the dead drag us along into their shadowy realm because we cannot let them go. So we follow them into the Underworld, descending, descending, until one day we turn and make our way back.” ~ Meghan O’Rourke

Thinking about Orpheus and Eurydice for some reason . . .

Orpheus in Hell

When he first brought his music into hell
He was absurdly confident. Even over the noise of the
shapeless fires
And the jukebox groaning of the damned
Some of them would hear him. In the upper world
He had forced the stones to listen.
It wasn’t quite the same. And the people he remembered
Weren’t quite the same either. He began looking at faces
Wondering if all of hell were without music.
He tried an old song but pain
Was screaming on the jukebox and the bright fire
Was pelting away the faces and he heard a voice saying,
“Orpheus!”
He was at the entrance again
And a little three-headed dog was barking at him.
Later he would remember all those dead voices
And call them Eurydice.

~ Jack Spicer

Music by Otis Taylor, “The Wind Comes In”