Eurydice's Silence: Orpheus' Odes to the Underworld

Of Night’s most sacred starlight, so her aura aligned

For a God’s heart bare only condemned when met beneath heaven

Eurydice, bound by eternity’s beauty, prevailed in nature

Accompanied by Pan, she, an Auloniad in the veins of the mountain

Birthed of empyrean blood; possessing of Phusis, 

daughter of Apollo she lay simple yet, daughter of nature 

A mother’s maternal wish

Holding life with the heart of Orpheus, Father to Music 

Enriched the souls of the Earth with sounds of heaven

Enticing with melodic symphonies that danced through the stars

Singing of sweet sanctuary, and Eurydice, 

for how could a love be so easy yet paramount to existence

Yet, unison was made, for the sounds of their beating hearts 

Were just like that of the songbird’s tune 

A lifeforce intertwined, bathed in undying love, 

like the roots of life growing down into Earth’s body

For not even the sky’s beams of gold held near their conjugal

A love so fanciful, a love so forgiving, a love so full

A love made only of purest starlight, a waterfull of clarity,

not a reflection was clear enough to imitate,

For this love was not to compare to immortals above       

Soon, a marriage paraded through the doors of heaven

A love that second none, an indivisible force it was

A union of the hearts; witnessed by all, heard from far

Orpheus and his Eurydice, 

now bound for life, 

in turn,

become one 

But soon did fate arrive for Earth’s own Eurydice,

sly shepherd Aristaeus, with a jealous grin he possessed 

Hungry for her taste, lurked through her fresh footsteps

Hunting a lust so rare, so agonising, so boiling 

yearning for her deep in the forest, calling her essence

But quick to resist his tempting ways,

thus did the cunning fox chase the delicate rabbit   

Losing sight of the mare nightmare Andsaca,

did malignant chance leap once more,

For a serpent clung to her angle 

A poison crept through her veins; 

her innocent heart drowned in darkness 

So quick, 

for Eurydice, walked the Earth no more  

Crys of the forest distilled the flow of life

Waling, laments of the most haunting sounds,

sent the message to all

Now in the presence of her only love,

Did her fragile body lay cold, 

silent, 

and still

Orpheus,

now caged with a sorrow so angry, so strong

Held her corpse to the warmth of his chest…

For nothing could align,

the flooding grief conducted the forest’s wind

And just like that… 

The Earth lay as still

In turn, did the Earth decay, killing life and Phusis

For their mother, was now, a memory

In time, Orpheus sang only of pain 

For pain was what he knew so well 

He begged for her seat on our Earth once more, 

wakening the eyes of the dead and solitary

Pleading to the God’s above, wailing for his love

Alas, the tears of Mount Olympus grew with the music,

along with heartache burdening the fellow Nymphs,

a message soon to occur,

His Eurydice, wondered the Underworld, alone, statuesque they say   

With the Mortal, protection did he possess from Apollo, 

for any simple mortal; no such return to the land of the living

Orpheus, to bring Eurydice back home, back to their haven 

A Quest he began, led the hopeful soul to gates of despair

For here, faced with a path to the deep,

faced with a path, enriched by harrowing death

Faced with a path, where his love lay on the other side,

promised that nothing would set him apart from desire

Only his darling, beautiful Eurydice, 

dreaming that their lips could touch again 

Weeping into song about his lasting desire,

soon tears, rippling the River Styx, 

Catching the attention of Ferryman, Charon

So moved was he of the painfilled song, cried aloud

Crossed the river, free, his song alone as payment 

His tears shedding down, marking the boat, 

flooding the surrounding emptiness with melancholic melody

Beneath the heavens, walking through despair that lay before him,

to be met with Cerberus, with three houndlike heads that met his eye 

But one beast was the Aglæca, it woke to the mortal presence before it

The salivating grew; the deathly noise shattered the emptiness

But small was Orpheous, clenching his Lyre

A life was spared once more, as his words, his pain, his song,

sent the demon to dream again

But soon was Orpheous to bow to the mighty,

it was in Hade’s Palace, he got on his knees,

Pledged for his love to return with him to the light

But the mighty Hades along with Persephone, 

rulers of the Underworld, object they did

No soul they say, shall leave their realm, no stealing under their rule

So Orpheus sang, as he did for all

A song he sang for his love Eurydice, a life taken too soon

Through their ears, danced his song, pity overshadowed the rulers 

His song traveled endlessly through the land of death,

thus, triggering tears from the feared and fatal that lurked nearby

For no sounds were as beautiful yet torturous as his

The weeps of creatures accompanied his song

And just like that, his wish was granted 

But clever was Hades with young Orpheus, for he may return to Earth,

“Eurydice may leave, but steps behind him she must stay,

one look behind and she will fall into my realm once more”

Agreed with the deal Orpheous did, rejoicing with these words

But Eurydice’s footsteps he heard not, 

and so was tempted to look behind him

Convinced that his love was not following his steps  

At the gateway to the living being one step away 

Orpheus gave in to temptation and so peeked 

For what he witnessed ripped his heart to pieces

His love fell from his feet, and in attempts to catch her, miss he did

Eurydice now engulfed in darkness

His love stripped away once more 

Demanding his love back but all was denied

For Hades had spoken all,

now small little Orpheus is forced to wonder Earth, 

tormented, incomplete, all alone

For how could he love another with his heart ripped inside

For how could he live without her

“Eurydice” he cried and cried for, but no such answer was heard  

And so it was,

in the forest, Orpheous resided, where his love took her last breath

With just his Lyre as company, he sang to sacred starlight above

Oblivious to all, a group of women, the Naemads so called, were entranced

Craving his love to ponder over them, jealousy soon caved into their hearts

For how could a heart so full of love still not refuse them

But all knew, his heart would remain with Eurydice  

And so, one night, the battered heart of Orpheus, ripped out, eaten 

And just like Eurydice, Orpheus walked Earth no more

Mourning the music that once filled the land

It can be heard forever in nature, from the babbling brook

To the songbird’s tune,

his music remains alive

Now and forever 

But could it be, a reunion would arise

For back in the Underworld, as it is said, two souls to be seen

Now, together at last, for their love still remains

But with what Orpheous understood?

For lovers indeed live with love and sadness

Love is indeed beautiful but bares ugliness to live

And so, love can indeed save a life but kill a heart it can