To Orpheus  

This summer, under the constellation of the Lyre, we remain

         sceptical.

What was the use of enchanting Hades and Persephone with

         your song

and they returned Eurydice to you? You, doubting your powers,

turned back to re-assure yourself and she vanished again into

the kingdom of shadows under the poplars.

                    Then, stooped by the powers of the impossible, you

taught the ultimate solitude of truth to the Lyre. For this neither men

nor Gods forgave you. The Maenads tore your body to pieces

by the banks of Hebros. Only your Lyre and your head, swept by

the currents, reached Lesbos.

                                    What then is the justification of your song?

Perhaps the momentary mixing (a false image the least) of light

and darkness? Or perhaps that the Muses hang your Lyre at

the exact center of the stars?

Under this constellation, in the summer of this year, we remain

         sceptical.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGX139M6