Eurydice
HIS prayer availed! Touched by the tuneful plea,The Lord of Death relaxed his iron hold,And out of the swart shadows, deep and cold,Stole the lost wife, the fair Eurydice.He felt her soft arms in the old embrace,He guessed the smile upon her unseen face,And joyful turned him from the dreadful place.
A little patience, and all had been well;A little faith, and bale had changed to bliss:Was it too much that he should ask for this,Whose love had dared the steep descent of hell?Had faced the Furies and the tongues of fire,The reek of torment, rising high and higher,Proserpina’s sad woe and Pluto’s ire?
It seemed a little thing to hope and askThat the glad wife, just rescued from the dead,Should go unquestioning where her Orpheus led.But no; for woman’s strength too hard the task.“Why dost thou turn thine eyes away from me?Am I grown ugly, then, unfit to see?Unkind! Thou lovest not Eurydice!”
Was it because so short a time she stayedAmong the dead that she had not grown wise?Do petty doubts and fears and jealousies,Vanity, selfishness, the stain and shadeOn mortal love, survive the poignant thrustWhich, winnowing souls from out their hindering dust,Should wake the eyes to see, the heart to trust?
If we came back to those who love us so,And fain would plead with Heaven for our recall,Should we come back having forgotten allThe wisdom which all spirits needs must know?Would the old faults revive, the old scars sting,The old capacities for sufferingQuicken to life even in our quickening?
Oh, lovely myth, with just this marring stain!I will not think that such deep wrong can be.If ever it were given to one againEarthward to turn in answer to Love’s plea,Surely ’twould come in hushed and reverent guise,With gentlest wisdom in far-seeing eyes,Ripened for life by knowing Paradise.
Words in this poem
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- reek n.
- A rick. B. Jonson.
- orpheus n.
- The famous mythic Thracian poet, son of the Muse Calliope, and husband of Eurydice. He is reputed to have had power to entrance beasts and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
- winnowing n.
- The act of one who, or that which, winnows.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- earthward adv.
- Toward the earth; -- opposed to heavenward or skyward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Eurydice is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Eurydice, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/eurydice.html, id L23461.
Form and metre
Eurydice is 42 lines in 6 stanzas of 7 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABBACCC, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -AA-BBB plea · holdA · coldA · eurydice · embraceB · faceB · placeB
- 2 ABBACC- wellA · blissB · thisB · hellA · fireC · higherC · ire
- 3 ABBACC- askA · deadB · ledB · taskA · meC · seeC · eurydice
- 4 ABBACCC stayedA · wiseB · jealousiesB · shadeA · thrustC · dustC · trustC
- 5 ABBACCC soA · recallB · allB · knowA · stingC · sufferingC · quickeningC
- 6 ABABCC- stainA · beB · againA · pleaB · guiseC · eyesC · paradise
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| HIS prayer availed! Touched by the tuneful plea, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| The Lord of Death relaxed his iron hold, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And out of the swart shadows, deep and cold, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Stole the lost wife, the fair Eurydice. | 9 | ········· |
| He felt her soft arms in the old embrace, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| He guessed the smile upon her unseen face, | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| And joyful turned him from the dreadful place. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A little patience, and all had been well; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| A little faith, and bale had changed to bliss: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Was it too much that he should ask for this, | 10 | ·········· |
| Whose love had dared the steep descent of hell? | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Had faced the Furies and the tongues of fire, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| The reek of torment, rising high and higher, | 11 | ···/·/˘··/˘ |
| Proserpina’s sad woe and Pluto’s ire? | 10 | ˘/˘˘···/˘· |
| It seemed a little thing to hope and ask | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That the glad wife, just rescued from the dead, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Should go unquestioning where her Orpheus led. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| But no; for woman’s strength too hard the task. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| “Why dost thou turn thine eyes away from me? | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Am I grown ugly, then, unfit to see? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Unkind! Thou lovest not Eurydice!” | 9 | ˘/······· |
| Was it because so short a time she stayed | 10 | ·········· |
| Among the dead that she had not grown wise? | 10 | ·········· |
| Do petty doubts and fears and jealousies, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Vanity, selfishness, the stain and shade | 10 | /˘˘/˘˘···· |
| On mortal love, survive the poignant thrust | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Which, winnowing souls from out their hindering dust, | 11 | ·/·˘····/˘· |
| Should wake the eyes to see, the heart to trust? | 10 | ·········· |
| If we came back to those who love us so, | 10 | ·········· |
| And fain would plead with Heaven for our recall, | 10 | ·····/·/˘/ |
| Should we come back having forgotten all | 10 | ····/˘˘/˘· |
| The wisdom which all spirits needs must know? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Would the old faults revive, the old scars sting, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| The old capacities for suffering | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Quicken to life even in our quickening? | 11 | /˘··/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Oh, lovely myth, with just this marring stain! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| I will not think that such deep wrong can be. | 10 | ·········· |
| If ever it were given to one again | 10 | ·/··/˘··˘/ |
| Earthward to turn in answer to Love’s plea, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Surely ’twould come in hushed and reverent guise, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| With gentlest wisdom in far-seeing eyes, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘··/· |
| Ripened for life by knowing Paradise. | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
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