Orpheus hesitated beside the black river.
With so much to look forward to, he looked back.
We think he sang then, but the song is lost.
At least he had seen once more the beloved back.
        I say the song went this way: *O prolong
        Now the sorrow if that is all there is to prolong.*
                --Donald Justice, from 
               "There is a Gold Light in Certain Old Paintings"