Orpheus, Once Torn Limb from Sturdy Limb
Orphée by Raoul Dufy
Long after he was born, and lived, and died,
The first of poets lives and lives. Before
The rape of art by Modernism tried
To kill off commonsense, an artist bore
Down on a piece of wood to make this strong
Depiction of the poet’s presence still
In culture, much around us. All along
Millennia holds a lyre. Until
Our kind is dead, more dead than he has been
For many centuries, Orpheus will shine.
In this depiction even each bold shin
And calf shows he himself is still the shrine
For verse and emblematic for all art.
In death, he is the living set apart.