“Such notes as warbled to the string
Drew iron tears down Pluto’s cheek
And made Hell grant what Love did seek.”
Orpheus and his beloved wife, Eurydice, were constant companions, but
one day Eurydice trod upon a poisonous snake, was bitten on the foot,
and soon died. Her spirit was borne into Hades by Mercury. The husband,
left desolate, boldly made his way into the land of shadows, presented
himself before the throne of Pluto and Proserpine, and, with the aid of
his lyre, persuaded them to again unite the thread of Eurydice’s life.
“Hell consented
To hear the Poet’s prayer;
Stern Proserpine relented
And gave him back the fair.”
--_Pope._
Eurydice was permitted to return to earth on condition that, as she
followed her husband from the regions of the dead, he should not look
behind him. Conducted by Mercury, they had all but passed the fatal
limits of that gloomy world when Orpheus, no longer able to restrain
his impatience, looked back, and so lost once more and forever his
beloved Eurydice.