SirOrfeo
From Wyclif
This page is for any comments or questions that you have about Sir Orfeo.
In regards to Sir Orfeus, Dr. Wood you will like the opinion that the harp is the central image of the poem- as voiced in Sir Orfeo:
Introduction
Edited by Anne Laskaya and Eve Salisbury- "In Sir Orfeo, the harp charms the animals, brings harmony where there was hostility, and is the one item which Orfeo carries over from his kingly world into his beggar world. It is also the one object which is shared by both character and poet; it bridges the fictional world of the lay and the actual world of the lay minstrel. Furthermore, the harp succeeds where armies of men fail; it charms the fairy king and is essential for Heurodis' recovery and for Orfeo's restoration. The orphic song emphasizes the power of art, eloquence, poetry, music, and rhetoric." See this link http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/orfint.htm
It is an interesting observation. Elizabeth(ah)2-4-06
Thank you so much, Elizabeth. The article is a splendid one that I am very glad to know about. (And now the secret about why I love this poem so much is out<G>.) CW, Feb. 4
(A medieval harp such as Orfeo might have played--CW)
I am quite interested in the power of creative expression overpowering appearance in Sir Orfeo. He begins the poem as King Orfeo: the man who loses his wife. And what would the image of a king be without his queen? So he casts himself out of his court to live or die in the woods. Suddenly, he becomes Sir Orfeo--the common man. After he has played the harp for the fairy king and has the opporutinity to take back his wife from that crystal and stone castle, he is once again tested with the court's preoccupation with appearance. "Nay," quath the king, "that nought nere! / A sori couple of you it were, / For thou art lene, rowe, and blac, / And sche is lovesum withouten lac." (lines 457-460) (Obviously, the fairy king did not bother to see if King Orfeo was handsome or not before stealing his wife.) Sir Orfeo remains humble and does not mention the wrongs dealt to him, but instead uses the courtly laws that require a king to live by his word. Sir Orfeo quickly takes his wife back to his city where they are both unrecognized. He must use his art to gain back his power as King Orfeo and not depend on whether other people recognize his face and remember that he was king ten years before.
Should our merit be based on how we were created or what ability we have to create?
After reading this poem, I have a greater appreciation for Chaucer's ability to use the eight beat, rhymed couplet form, no matter how juvenile it makes English poetry sound. Chaucer's sentence construction is much less forced to meet the rhyme than in Sir Orfeo. Cheers to Chaucer! Blueridgeborn 2/7/06
Extremely insightful and appreciative, BRB. CW, Feb 8
(For those of you interested in a fairly late survival of the Orfeo story, please see this Scottish ballad: http://www.bartleby.com/243/15.html It is perhaps not surprising that, in a Scottish version of the story, Orpheus/Orfeo doesn't play the lyre or the harp but the pipes. Jordan, you will be interested, too, in the strange refrain words, some of which are Norse in origin, it is thought.
The melody for this ballad has survived, too. There are various places on the web where you can hear digital samples of it. If you want to go here-- http://www.carol.woodpage.com/songbook.html --you can hear a bit of it with harp, by clicking on "King Orfeo."CW, Feb 8)
I am interested in the idea of Orfeo abandoning not only his kingdom for his grief over the loss of his love, but also to escape to the wilderness where he can play his harp. How lucky he is to be able to just walk away from his responsibilities as a king and sovereign and focus on his art!As someone mentioned about, Orfeo is only happy when he is playing in the wilderness.But the animals leave him as soon as he stops playing. Isn't there something about this in one form of the Greek myth about Orpheus playing for some wild creatures, and when he stops they rip him apart?
Metrically, this lay is in the traditional 4 beat lines with rhyming couplets which help the minstrel to remember the words as well as for musical purposes. Many song lyrics have this 4 beat system, Amazing Grace is one of those songs.
I wonder how this language of East Midlands differed from the Gawain Poet's dialect as well as Chaucer's. The words in Sir Orfeo have a lot of initial "y"'s especially around verbs. (This might be moved to languages,if it fits better over there.)
Silverluna, Feb. 8th
I love this story! I do not know if it was easier to read because more of the words' meanings were listed or because they were listed next to the lines with the words. None the less, this story left me forgetting to take side notes and refreshed for the rest of the day! This is, after all, what a great work should do... cross the years and touch the hearts and imaginations to those traveling through life in the distant future! - Dell 2-9-06
"Sir Orfeo" was much easier to read with the footnotes written directly to the right of the text. It was less time consuming because of its quick reference. I never got lost in the language while reading the text. Magzie
Okay, I have to say that the first thing that got my attention when I opened this post was the picture of the harp...I just love it! I also agree with the comment that Chaucer's sentence construction is much less forced to meet the rhyme than Sir Orfeo. (~Andreea 4/27)
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