Page:The poems of John Godfrey Saxe.djvu/448

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ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.
But alas for the joys of this mutable life!Sir Orpheus lost his beautiful wife,—Eurydice,—who vanished one dayFrom Earth, in a very unpleasant way!It chanced, as near as I can determine,Through one of those vertebrated verminThat lie in the grass so prettily curledWaiting to "snake" you out of the world!And the poets tell she went to—well—A place where Greeks and Romans dwellAfter they burst their mortal shell;A region that in the deepest shade is,And known by the classical name of Hades,—A different place from the terrible furnaceOf Tartarus, down below Avernus.
Now, having a heart uncommonly stout,Sir Orpheus did n't go whining about,Nor marry another, as you would, no doubt,But made up his mind to fiddle her out!But near the gate he had to wait,For there in state old Cerberus sate.A three-headed dog, as cruel as Fate,Guarding the entrance early and late;A beast so sagacious, and very voracious,So uncommonly sharp and extremely rapacious,That it really may be doubted whetherHe'd have his match, should a common tetherUnite three aldermen's heads together!
But Orpheus, not in the least afraid,Tuned up his shell, and quickly essayedWhat could be done with a serenade.In short, so charming an air he played,
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