Orpheus
And this is one of the stranger poems in Bynner’s 1947 collection, ‘Take Away the Darkness’. For me, the last line evoked a chuckle and seemed meant to be humorous somehow. Though I can’t say exactly why, it made me think of the 1941 Film Noir classic, ‘I Wake Up Screaming’. Here are the poem, Witter Bynner when still a dapper young fellow, and the movie poster. Have fun!
Orpheus once met me in a dawn, with no word spoken,
And showed me strings
That even the lightest touch of his own fingers
Would have broken.
And to hear his fingers break the spell,
I prowl in hell.
#poetry, #poem, #NewMexico, #FilmNoir, #film, #literature