--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose…" description: "\"Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose his Eurydice, beholds her for the first time as well as the last.\" — Cyril Connolly" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/cyril-connolly-1829_eurydice_miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-hi_1732462.png" --- # Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose his Eurydice… ![“Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose his Eurydice, beholds her for the first time as well as the last.” quote by Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/cyril-connolly-1829_eurydice_miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-hi_1732462.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/cyril-connolly-1829_eurydice_miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-hi_1732462.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/cyril-connolly-1829_eurydice_miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-hi_1732462.png) > “Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose his Eurydice, beholds her for the first time as well as the last.” [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A tragic figure sees his beloved both anew and for the last time, highlighting the pain of loss and fleeting joy. **In simple terms:** Seeing love once more before loss. Key Takeaway Cherish moments before they fade. Themes loss love ephemerality Mood melancholic reflective Type literary poetic When to use this quote - grief counseling - relationship reflection - artistic inspiration Key Concepts Greek myth tragic irony Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance joy and impending loss? - What does this say about memory? A Different Perspective The quote romanticizes tragedy, ignoring resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eurydice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eurydice/) [Eurydice Beholds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eurydice-beholds-1442052/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Lose Eurydice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lose-eurydice-1442051/) [Loses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loses/) [Miserable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable/) [Miserable Orpheus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable-orpheus-1442050/) [Orpheus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orpheus/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [“Perhaps he makes a choice. He chooses the memory of her. That’s why he turns. He doesn’t make the lover’s choice, but the poet’s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-sciamma/perhaps-he-makes-a-choice-he-chooses-the-memory-of-her-that-s-why-he/) [Céline Sciamma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-sciamma/) > [“We are each what never leaves us, what we never see the back of is the self. But what loves us is at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-davis/we-are-each-what-never-leaves-us-what-we-never-see-the-back-of-is-the/) [Christina Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-davis/) > [Happiness is indeed a Eurydice, vanishing as soon as gazed upon. It can exist only in acceptance, and succumbs as soon as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-de-rougemont/happiness-is-indeed-a-eurydice-vanishing-as-soon-as-gazed-upon-it-can/) [Denis de Rougemont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-de-rougemont/) > [Be forever dead in Eurydice-more gladly arise into the seamless life proclaimed in your song. Here, in the realm of decline, among momentary days,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/be-forever-dead-in-eurydice-more-gladly-arise-into-the-seamless-life/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“If fervent memory could raise the dead, she would be our Eurydice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/if-fervent-memory-could-raise-the-dead-she-would-be-our-eurydice/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/eurydice-dying-now-a-second-time-uttered-no-complaint-against-her/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Eurydice sits alone on a red bed. She has flaming red hair, so flaming that you can't see anything else of her, much less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/eurydice-sits-alone-on-a-red-bed-she-has-flaming-red-hair-so-flaming/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“INTENSE SEXUAL DESIRE IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD Janey dreams of cocks. Janey sees cocks instead of objects. Janey has to fuck.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/intense-sexual-desire-is-the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-janey-dreams/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“I want to be your Eurydice, if you'll let me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-redmerski/i-want-to-be-your-eurydice-if-you-ll-let-me/) [J.A. Redmerski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-redmerski/) > [“Every angel is terrifying. Through the darkness, they move silently... I will go down into death with you. I must go where I must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/every-angel-is-terrifying-through-the-darkness-they-move-silently-i/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“. . . Orpheus struck dumb with hindsight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-stallings/orpheus-struck-dumb-with-hindsight/) [A. E. Stallings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-stallings/) > [“Orpheus chose to be the leader of mankind. Ah, not even Orpheus had attained such a goal, not even his immortal greatness had justified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-broch/orpheus-chose-to-be-the-leader-of-mankind-ah-not-even-orpheus-had/) [Hermann Broch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-broch/) > [“... and in the homosexual phase which would follow Eurydice's death ... Orpheus sings no more, he writes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/and-in-the-homosexual-phase-which-would-follow-eurydice-s-death/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [How infinitely happier and more grateful is the whole personality or spirit when it finds something nourishing in art or writing or thinking, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/how-infinitely-happier-and-more-grateful-is-the-whole-personality-or/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [“Collect yourself: to smother what you feel, recall to order, summon in one place; making, like Orpheus, a system against loss.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-padel/collect-yourself-to-smother-what-you-feel-recall-to-order-summon-in/) [Ruth Padel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-padel/) ## More by Cyril Connolly > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no fury like a woman searching for a new lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-fury-like-a-woman-searching-for-a-new-lover/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [We cannot be happy until we can love ourselves without egotism and our friends without tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-cannot-be-happy-until-we-can-love-ourselves-without-egotism-and/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Our memories are card-indexes consulted and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/our-memories-are-card-indexes-consulted-and-then-put-back-in-disorder/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-more-somber-enemy-of-good-art-than-the-pram-in-the-hall/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-true-function-of-a-writer-is-to-produce-a-masterpiece-and-no/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“We pay for vice by the knowledge that we are wicked; we pay for pleasure when we find out too late that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-pay-for-vice-by-the-knowledge-that-we-are-wicked-we-pay-for/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/if-montaigne-is-a-man-in-the-prime-of-life-sitting-in-his-study-on-a/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) [Explore all 204 Cyril Connolly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## More Eurydice quotes > [“Every angel is terrifying. Through the darkness, they move silently... I will go down into death with you. I must go where I must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/every-angel-is-terrifying-through-the-darkness-they-move-silently-i/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“I want to be your Eurydice, if you'll let me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-redmerski/i-want-to-be-your-eurydice-if-you-ll-let-me/) [J.A. Redmerski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-redmerski/) > [“INTENSE SEXUAL DESIRE IS THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD Janey dreams of cocks. Janey sees cocks instead of objects. Janey has to fuck.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/intense-sexual-desire-is-the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-janey-dreams/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [“Eurydice sits alone on a red bed. She has flaming red hair, so flaming that you can't see anything else of her, much less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/eurydice-sits-alone-on-a-red-bed-she-has-flaming-red-hair-so-flaming/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/eurydice-dying-now-a-second-time-uttered-no-complaint-against-her/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“If fervent memory could raise the dead, she would be our Eurydice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/if-fervent-memory-could-raise-the-dead-she-would-be-our-eurydice/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [Be forever dead in Eurydice-more gladly arise into the seamless life proclaimed in your song. Here, in the realm of decline, among momentary days,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/be-forever-dead-in-eurydice-more-gladly-arise-into-the-seamless-life/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“Perhaps he makes a choice. He chooses the memory of her. That’s why he turns. He doesn’t make the lover’s choice, but the poet’s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celine-sciamma/perhaps-he-makes-a-choice-he-chooses-the-memory-of-her-that-s-why-he/) [Céline Sciamma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celine-sciamma/) > [Happiness is indeed a Eurydice, vanishing as soon as gazed upon. It can exist only in acceptance, and succumbs as soon as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-de-rougemont/happiness-is-indeed-a-eurydice-vanishing-as-soon-as-gazed-upon-it-can/) [Denis de Rougemont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-de-rougemont/) > [“We are each what never leaves us, what we never see the back of is the self. But what loves us is at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-davis/we-are-each-what-never-leaves-us-what-we-never-see-the-back-of-is-the/) [Christina Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-davis/) [Browse all 11 Eurydice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eurydice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose his Eurydice, beholds her for the first time as well as the last.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cyril Connolly" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-his-eurydice-beholds-her-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eurydice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-his-eurydice-beholds-her-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/cyril-connolly-1829_eurydice_miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-hi_1732462.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/cyril-connolly-1829_eurydice_miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-hi_1732462.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/cyril-connolly-1829_eurydice_miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-hi_1732462.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose his Eurydice, beholds her for the first time as well as the last.” — Cyril Connolly", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cyril Connolly", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Miserable Orpheus who, turning to lose...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-his-eurydice-beholds-her-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/miserable-orpheus-who-turning-to-lose-his-eurydice-beholds-her-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```