"Eurydice" appears in Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife (1999). Through a series of dramatic monologues, Duffy's collection adopts the perspectives of various forgotten or overlooked women, including the wives and partners of famous men from history and myth. This poem takes the perspective of Eurydice, the bride of the legendary poet/musician Orpheus in ancient Greek mythology. Unlike the original character, a loving wife whom Orpheus heroically tries to rescue from the underworld, this version of Eurydice despises Orpheus and has no desire to be rescued. In fact, she takes the initiative to ensure they're separated forever. Through its feminist retelling of a popular tale, "Eurydice" satirizes male arrogance and presumption, especially in the literary realm.
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The Full Text of “Eurydice”
The Full Text of “Eurydice”
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“Eurydice” Summary
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“Eurydice” Themes
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Male Arrogance vs. Female Agency
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-112
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Misogyny and Literary Culture
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 7-24
- Lines 29-66
- Lines 78-81
- Lines 96-109
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The Wisdom and Peace of Silence
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 4-10
- Lines 11-24
- Line 59
- Lines 60-66
- Lines 76-77
- Lines 110-112
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Eurydice”
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Lines 1-6
Girls, I was ...
... to an end. -
Lines 7-10
And end they ...
... to the ground. -
Lines 11-16
So imagine me ...
... would be safe -
Lines 17-24
from the kind of ...
... for abstract nouns. -
Lines 25-28
Just picture my ...
... at Death’s door. -
Lines 29-33
Him. ...
... as the prize. -
Lines 34-36
Things were different ...
... the boy. Legendary. -
Lines 37-44
The blurb on ...
... wee, silver tears. -
Lines 45-50
Bollocks. (I’d done ...
... rather be dead. -
Lines 51-55
But the Gods ...
... strutted his stuff. -
Lines 56-59
The bloodless ghosts ...
... believe her ears. -
Lines 60-66
Like it or ...
... histories, myths… -
Lines 67-72
He’d been told ...
... was the past. -
Lines 73-77
He’d been warned ...
... Nobody talked. -
Lines 78-83
Girls, forget what ...
... we were through? -
Lines 84-91
I was dead. ...
... purple to grey. -
Lines 92-98
It was an ...
... when inspiration finally struck. -
Lines 99-103
I stopped, thrilled. ...
... hear it again… -
Lines 104-109
He was smiling ...
... and was gone. -
Lines 110-112
The dead are ...
... of the dead.
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“Eurydice” Symbols
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The Underworld
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-10: “Girls, I was dead and down / in the Underworld, a shade, / a shadow of my former self, nowhen. / It was a place where language stopped, / a black full stop, a black hole / Where the words had to come to an end. / And end they did there, / last words, / famous or not. / It suited me down to the ground.”
- Lines 11-19: “So imagine me there, / unavailable, / out of this world, / then picture my face in that place / of Eternal Repose, / in the one place you’d think a girl would be safe / from the kind of a man / who follows her round / writing poems,”
- Lines 26-28: “when I heard— / Ye Gods— / a familiar knock-knock at Death’s door.”
- Lines 67-72: “He’d been told that he mustn’t look back / or turn round, / but walk steadily upwards, / myself right behind him, / out of the Underworld / into the upper air that for me was the past.”
- Line 91: “But already the light had saddened from purple to grey.”
- Lines 92-93: “It was an uphill schlep / from death to life”
- Lines 110-112: “The dead are so talented. / The living walk by the edge of a vast lake / near the wise, drowned silence of the dead.”
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“Eurydice” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Allusion
Where allusion appears in the poem:- Lines 1-112
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Irony
Where irony appears in the poem:- Lines 37-46: “The blurb on the back of his books claimed / that animals, / aardvark to zebra, / flocked to his side when he sang, / fish leapt in their shoals / at the sound of his voice, / even the mute, sullen stones at his feet / wept wee, silver tears. / Bollocks. (I’d done all the typing myself, / I should know.)”
- Lines 80-81: “I did everything in my power / to make him look back.”
- Line 91: “But already the light had saddened from purple to grey.”
- Lines 101-106: “My voice shook when I spoke - / Orpheus, your poem’s a masterpiece. / I’d love to hear it again… / He was smiling modestly, / when he turned, / when he turned and he looked at me.”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 1: “Girls,,” “dead”
- Line 4: “place,” “stopped”
- Line 5: “a black,” “stop,” “a black”
- Line 6: “words,” “end”
- Line 7: “end”
- Line 8: “words”
- Line 14: “picture my face,” “place”
- Line 16: “place”
- Line 19: “poems”
- Line 25: “picture my face”
- Line 27: “Gods”
- Line 28: “Death’s”
- Line 30: “Big O.”
- Line 33: “poem”
- Line 36: “Big O”
- Line 50: “girls,,” “dead”
- Line 51: “Gods”
- Line 67: “He’d been”
- Line 73: “He’d been”
- Line 75: “ever,” “ever”
- Line 76: “we walked, we walked.”
- Line 78: “Girls,”
- Line 84: “I was,” “dead”
- Line 85: “I was”
- Line 93: “death”
- Line 95: “I”
- Line 96: “I,” “poem”
- Line 99: “I”
- Line 102: “poem’s”
- Line 105: “when he turned,”
- Line 106: “when he turned”
- Line 108: “I”
- Line 109: “I”
- Line 110: “The dead”
- Line 112: “the dead”
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Apostrophe
Where apostrophe appears in the poem:- Lines 1-3: “Girls, I was dead and down / in the Underworld, a shade, / a shadow of my former self, nowhen.”
- Lines 11-28: “So imagine me there, / unavailable, / out of this world, / then picture my face in that place / of Eternal Repose, / in the one place you’d think a girl would be safe / from the kind of a man / who follows her round / writing poems, / hovers about / while she reads them, / calls her His Muse, / and once sulked for a night and a day / because she remarked on his weakness for abstract nouns. / Just picture my face / when I heard— / Ye Gods— / a familiar knock-knock at Death’s door.”
- Line 50: “In fact girls, I’d rather be dead.”
- Lines 53-54: “and what you doubtless know of my tale / is the deal.”
- Lines 78-79: “Girls, forget what you’ve read. / It happened like this -”
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 1: “dead,” “down”
- Line 2: “shade”
- Line 3: “shadow”
- Line 6: “Where,” “words”
- Line 14: “picture,” “place”
- Line 31: “Larger,” “life”
- Line 32: “lyre”
- Line 33: “poem,” “pitch,” “prize”
- Line 36: “Big,” “boy”
- Line 37: “blurb,” “back,” “books”
- Line 40: “side,” “sang”
- Line 43: “sullen stones”
- Line 44: “wept wee,” “silver”
- Line 84: “dead,” “Deceased”
- Line 85: “Peace,” “Passé”
- Line 86: “Past”
- Line 111: “living,” “lake”
- Line 112: “drowned,” “dead”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 4-6: “It was a place where language stopped, / a black full stop, a black hole / Where the words had to come to an end.”
- Line 10: “It suited me down to the ground.”
- Line 86: “Past my sell-by date…”
- Line 91: “But already the light had saddened from purple to grey.”
- Lines 111-112: “The living walk by the edge of a vast lake / near the wise, drowned silence of the dead.”
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“Eurydice” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- The Underworld
- Shade
- Nowhen
- Full stop
- Black hole
- Down to the ground
- Eternal Repose
- His Muse
- Weakness for
- Abstract nouns
- Ye Gods
- Death's door
- Big O
- Lyre
- Pitch
- Verse-wise
- Blurb
- Shoals
- Sullen
- Bollocks
- Dark Lady
- White Goddess
- Doubtless
- The Deal
- Bloodless ghosts
- Sisyphus
- Tantalus
- Images, metaphors, similes
- Octaves, sextets, quatrains, couplets
- Elegies, limericks, villanelles
- Passé
- Late
- Sell-by date
- Schlep
- Willed
- Filching
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(Location in poem: Lines 1-2: “Girls, I was dead and down / in the Underworld”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Eurydice”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Eurydice” Speaker
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“Eurydice” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Eurydice”
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More “Eurydice” Resources
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External Resources
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Hadestown — Clips from the award-winning Broadway musical "Hadestown," a reimagining of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
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The Poem Aloud — A reading/adaptation of "Eurydice."
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Orpheus and Eurydice — A summary of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
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The Poet's Life and Work — Read a short biography of Carol Ann Duffy at the Poetry Foundation.
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An Interview with the Poet — An interview with Duffy after her appointment as Poet Laureate of the UK.
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Duffy on Writing — Carol Ann Duffy discusses her creative process and advice for writers.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Carol Ann Duffy
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