Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN THESSALY THE HILLS ARE HIGH, FR. ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE, by THOMAS STURGE MOORE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN THESSALY THE HILLS ARE HIGH, FR. ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O orpheus, why this silence? Dost thou dream
Last Line: And all those pious customs fail.
Alternate Author Name(s): Moore, T. Sturge
Subject(s): Thessalia; Thessaly


EURYDICE [after a prolonged pause]:
O Orpheus, why this silence? dost thou dream
That there are homes like ours upon these meads...
ORPHEUS: Eurydice, I'll touch my lyre again,
For that has power where all our words are vain.

In Thessaly the hills are high,
On their green brows are caverns seen,
And many a coppice near the sky
Waves boughs that fan that blue serene:
Yet lower down the great woods stand
Ranged round a sunny meadow land.

Apollo walks our mountain tops,
And in their caverns satyrs dwell:
Dryades hallow wood and copse,
They hearts of fox and badger quell:
While water nymphs on a clear night
Wander the meadows in delight.

In Thessaly our home was built:
The sun will parch its jessamine,
The honey from our hives be spilt
By satyrs, dryades begin
To milk our bleating ewes at dawn,
While up the lane to pull our plums,
The youngest nymph by moonlight comes:
There stretched at full length on the lawn,
Under the heavy laden boughs,
She, while the dormice squeal and rail,
Sigheth to think the vacant house
Of those who gave her tithe and chaunt
Must soon become the foxes' haunt,
And all those pious customs fail.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net