by John Ashbery

    Orpheus liked the glad personal quality

    Of the things beneath the sky. Of course， Eurydice was a part

    Of this. Then one day， everything changed. He rends¹

    Rocks into fissures² with lament³. Gullies， hummocks⁴

    Can't withstand it. The sky shudders⁵ from one horizon

    To the other， almost ready to give up wholeness.

    Then Apollo quietly told him： "Leave it all on earth.

    Your lute⁶， what point？ Why pick at a dull pavan few care to

    Follow， except a few birds of dusty feather，

    Not vivid performances of the past." But why not？

    All other things must change too.

    The seasons are no longer what they once were，

    But it is the nature of things to be seen only once，

    As they happen along， bumping into other things， getting along

    Somehow. That's where Orpheus made his mistake.

    Of course Eurydice vanished into the shade；

    She would have even if he hadn't turned around.

    No use standing⁷ there like a gray stone toga as the whole wheel

    Of recorded history flashes past， struck dumb， unable to

    utter an intelligent

    Comment on the most thought-provoking element in its train.

    Only love stays on the brain， and something these people，

    These other ones， call life. Singing accurately⁸

    So that the notes mount straight up out of the well of

    Dim noon and rival the tiny， sparkling yellow flowers

    Growing around the brink⁹ of the quarry¹⁰， encapsulizes

    The different weights of the things.

    But it isn't enough

    To just go on singing. Orpheus realized this

    And didn't mind so much about his reward being in heaven

    After the Bacchantes had torn him apart， driven

    Half out of their minds by his music， what it was doing to them.

    Some say it was for his treatment of Eurydice.

    But probably the music had more to do with it， and

    The way music passes， emblematic¹¹

    Of life and how you cannot isolate¹² a note of it

    And say it is good or bad. You must

    Wait till it's over. "The end crowns all，"

    Meaning also that the "tableau¹³"

    Is wrong. For although memories， of a season， for example，

    Melt into a single snapshot， one cannot guard， treasure

    That stalled moment. It too is flowing， fleeting¹⁴；

    It is a picture of flowing， scenery， though living， mortal，

    Over which an abstract action is laid out in blunt，

    Harsh strokes. And to ask more than this

    Is to become the tossing reeds of that slow，

    Powerful stream， the trailing grasses

    Playfully tugged¹⁶ at， but to participate in the action

    No more than this. Then in the lowering gentian sky

    Electric twitches¹⁷ are faintly apparent first， then burst forth¹⁸

    Into a shower of fixed¹⁹， cream-colored flares²⁰. The horses

    Have each seen a share of the truth， though each thinks，

    "I'm a maverick²¹. Nothing of this is happening to me，

    Though I can understand the language of birds， and

    The itinerary²² of the lights caught in the storm is

    fully¹⁵ apparent to me.

    Their jousting²³ ends in music much

    As trees move more easily in the wind after a summer storm

    And is happening in lacy shadows of shore-trees， now，

    day after day."

    But how late to be regretting all this， even

    Bearing in mind that regrets are always late， too late！

    To which Orpheus， a bluish cloud with white contours，

    Replies that these are of course not regrets at all，

    Merely a careful， scholarly setting down of

    Unquestioned facts， a record of pebbles²⁴ along the way.

    And no matter how all this disappeared，

    Or got where it was going， it is no longer

    Material for a poem. Its subject

    Matters too much， and not enough， standing there helplessly

    While the poem streaked²⁵ by， its tail afire， a bad

    Comet screaming hate and disaster， but so turned inward

    That the meaning， good or other， can never

    Become known. The singer thinks

    Constructively²⁶， builds up his chant in progressive stages

    Like a skyscraper²⁷， but at the last minute turns away.

    The song is engulfed²⁸ in an instant in blackness

    Which must in turn flood the whole continent

    With blackness， for it cannot see. The singer

    Must then pass out of sight， not even relieved

    Of the evil burthen of the words. Stellification

    Is for the few， and comes about much later

    When all record of these people and their lives

    Has disappeared into libraries， onto microfilm.

    A few are still interested in them. "But what about

    So-and-so？" is still asked on occasion. But they lie

    Frozen and out of touch until an arbitrary chorus

    Speaks of a totally different incident with a similar name

    In whose tale are hidden syllables²⁹

    Of what happened so long before that

    In some small town， one different summer.

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