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“The Sonnets to Orpheus” Rainer Maria Rilke Ryan Woodward, Will Giang The myth of Orpheus- Orpheus is a progenitor of art, culture and music. He is the inventor of song and the lyre and therefore is the creator of thought and order and because of that he is one of the creators of human civilization. His wife died because she got bitten by a serpent. Orpheus traveled into the depths of the underworld and his music was so powerful that even Hades was impressed. Hades agreed to bring Orpheus’s wife back, but he could not look back as he traveled back to the land of the living. Orpheus looked back and his wife returned to death. He was dismembered and thrown into the Dionysus River where he still sang his beautiful melodies and his arms still played his lyre. Eventually his remains came to rest at the Island of Lesbos where his soul was reunited with his wife.

"The Sonnets to Orpheus”

· Paraphrase – The world is in a constant state of flux and change, but death is constant. It is an uncertain world where nothing is understood, not suffering, love or death. However, Music is “greater and more free” and “song alone gives holiness and joy” · Structure- it is a modern sonnet which helps to give the poem a sense of timelessness, like music. (the rhyme and the rhythm of the poem are messed up in the translation, but the form remains the same) · Sound - The poem, though it doesn’t have a set rhythm, is very musical in nature and flows very well. It is written in a way that it could be sung as a song. This gives the poem a sense of being a song like the timeless song of Orpheus. · Sense – Two lines in the poem do not have punctuation (11 and 13). This lack in punctuation connects these two thoughts, which when put together, say that on earth music alone is the thing we do not lose in death. · Theme – Music is the constant in an ever changing world. It provides an escape from the certainty of uncertainty.

the role of the myth of Orpheus in the poem

· Orpheus was used in this poem because he was the epitome of a musician. His music lived on past his death and brought joy and happiness to all who listened to it, regardless of Orpheus’s inner turmoil (brought on by his wife’s deaths). His music was the same regardless of what happened to Orpheus (his wife or his own death). · The Archetypal meaning of music is being immune to the wearing of time. It is immortal and lasts forever. This is directly tied into the theme of the poem- that music is a constant in a changing world and that it is always there as an escape from the constant flux the world is in.

// “So It Goes…” //