Edward Poynter, British
“Noooooo! I’m Begging You, Orpheus. Please Don’t Make Me Go Watch Your Band Play Again” 1862
Oil on canvas
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Artist info is pointed to in my comment at a prior blog entry.
/// This is Orpheus, (destined for strife),
and Eurydice, (she’s his late wife).
They are both down in Hades.
She, (unlike most dead ladies),
can be led by her man back to life.
/// As you see, he brought his lyre along,
to make use of his magical song.
Thus was Hades defied,
Cerberus pacified,
but then later, things went very wrong.
/// If he ever hoped death to defeat,
he must follow the rules, and not cheat.
Was this plan a mistake?
She’d been bit by a snake;
now the snakes slither by their bare feet.
/// Hades warned him, “When you flee this place
you must not turn to look at her face!”
To get both back alive
he’d need faith to survive.
He looked back, thereby earning disgrace.
/// The moral we glean from this tale:
If you wish, against death, to prevail,
that big lyre you should lose.
Instead, bring along shoes,
and keep looking ahead without fail.
Epilog:
/// When you’re dead, you’re dead— that’s nature’s law.
And yet rules always stuck in Orph’s craw.
Yes, his first attempt failed,
but our boy never bailed.
His next plan: wish on The Monkey’s Paw.