Orfeuteuteutaloonplayeusinediecryeuuutinnibuscumtenebrumufpf-
woemanlesslyhoedowntheriveraheadfullstop.
The story of Orpheus after he comes back to the world of the living without his beloved Eurydice. His music now makes all things echo with his sadness. The Maenads, to make him stop, tear him limb from limb. His disembodied head is thrown into the Hebrus River where it floats, still singing, out into the Aegean Sea to the island of Lesbos, the island of poets. 100 letters.
Orfeo = Orpheus
eu = Eurydice, sound of the flute
teutaloon = flute music
play us . . eu, sound of the flute
sine die = without a day
cry
eu u u = wailing flute calling out for Eurydice
tinnibuscum= with ringing.
tenebrum = shadow, cum... brum echoing grief
ufpf = Orpheus’ life ends
woemanlessly = the world thinks itself at last free of the grieving Orpheus
hoedown = Orpheus’ head still singing in the river as it runs out to the sea
theriver = Hebrus River
ahead = Opheus’ disembodied head floats down the river
full stop = head comes ashore on the island of Lesbos where a cult (Orphism) dedicated to Orpheus is formed that teaches adepts about the journey to the Land of the Dead.
Flute Music. To be sung, breathlessly.