Louise Glück (1943-2023)

EURYDICE

Eurydice went back to hell.

What was difficult

was the travel, which,

on arrival, is forgotten.

Transition

is difficult.

And moving between two worlds

especially so;

the tension is very great.

A passage

filled with regret, with longing,

to which we have, in the world,

some slight access or memory.

Only for a moment

when the dark of the underworld

settled around her again

(gentle, respectful),

only for a moment could

an image of earth’s beauty

reach her again, beauty

for which she grieved.

But to live with human faithlessness

is another matter.

(Louise Glück, Vita Nova, Ecco Press, 1999)

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