Throughout his career, writer Neil Gaiman has tackled a wide range of projects including novels, picture books, and poetry. Recently, he drew inspiration from the Greek myth of “Orpheus and Eurydice” to create a poem entitled “Orphee.”
According to Gaiman’s blog post, he wrote this piece for a BBC Radio documentary called Orpheus Underground. Other creatives who also took part in this program include novelist Margaret Atwood, author Jonathan Carroll, and musician Peter Blegvad. Click here to download a digital copy of Myths of Greece and Rome by H.A. Guerber; this eBook contains the full story of “Orpheus and Eurydice.”
Here’s an excerpt from the poem: “I would go to Hell to see you once more. There’s a door on the third floor of the New York Public Library, on the way to the men’s toilets, by the little Charles Addams gallery. It’s never locked. You just have to open it. I would go to Hell for you. I would tell them stories that are not false and that are not true. I would tell them stories until they wept salt tears and gave you back to me and to the world.”