When reading Eurydice, I cannot help but think about the author Hilda Doolittle. I often wonder did she write this because of an obsession with Greek mythology or did she write this because she felt a personal connection to the myth? After thoroughly reading the poem and diving into the myth further, I believe that H.D. wrote this because she wanted to share Eurydice’s side of the story. In the poem, she shares how Eurydice is stuck in the underworld because of the mistakes of her husband, Orpheus. Eurydice goes on to share all the things that her husband has now completely taken from her because she is now stuck in hell. She is heartbroken to be away from all the earthly things she loves and misses. Although her husband has betrayed her physically and left her stuck in the underworld with none of the things she likes, she goes on to share “at least I have the flowers of myself, and my thoughts, no god can take that.” So while Orpheus has caused her to be away from all this, she knows mentally that he cannot take that. She may suffer physically but, her memory will remain.
This poem is very fitting for the time when H.D. grew up; this poem also relates today to the fight women and men face with individual rights. I am also studying in a women writers course, and we have researched and discussed a lot about the oppression women faced during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Even women who came from highly educated families still struggled in the world of writing, most women authors during these times either never published their books, poems or they wrote under pseudonyms. I could see how H.D. felt this poem could be relevant to her life at the time she wrote it. She wanted to tell a story of a young woman who no matter what could never win against the man, even when that man was her husband. I believe although H.D. had one man that she loved Ezra Pound, she soon fell in love with a woman named Frances Gregg. She had always dreamt of living the bohemian lifestyle with Pound but as their romance progressed she soon felt, stuck, trapped and that she was no longer in control. I believe her love affair with Pound and Gregg reflects in the poem Eurydice. She shows in the poem that even though a man may control things physically or your fate as a woman in the 19th and 20th century, they cannot control your mental wellness, your memories, and thoughts. Overall this poem is a very inspiring poem looking back with a 19th or 20th century lens but also can be inspiring for women today.