A Heathfield's Online Journal

Character in 1st person – Orpheus

Orpheus the best musician ever

I met Eurydice one day, everything was going well until Hades the god of the Underworld, became jealous of Eurydice’s  beauty and scared to making her step on a snake which bit her in the leg and killed her and then hades too her to the underworld. Now was my time to save her, I packed my loot and some water and headed to the cave connecting earth and the underworld and was suddenly knocked off my feet by Cerberus a three headed dog and guardian of the underworld. I fumbled with the strings until they untied and grabbed my loot, I played my best and favourite tune until Cerberus fell to the floor asleep I progresses into the cave and met Hades at the deepest point. It was rocky and Hades was wearing dark red armor. I was singing and playing my loot demanding Eurydice was returned to me, Hades was so moved by this that he said I could have her back on one condition: she would follow me out to the light but if I looked back to see her before we reached the light she would be gone forever. I was happy with this and walked out the cave Eurydice following the further they went the more I believed this was a trick to get him out the underworld and steps from the light I looked back to see if it was a trick and saw her briefly before she disappeared.

I was so sad about this that I wanted to kill my self to be with Eurydice in the underworld but his father, Apollo denied me, said I was the greatest musician ever and couldn’t end my life to be with someone. I obeyed him but the longer time went on the more I missed her so one day I got my loot, my sword and some water and headed towards the underworld.

Unlike last time I wasn’t immediately met by Cerberus and as I progressed through the cave Cerberus came once again and knocked me off my feet. I got up and armed myself with my sword and loot, I played the loot but then noticed this time Cerberus hadn’t even heard, as Hades had covered his ears to make sure it wouldn’t be fazed I grabbed my sword and ran to Cerberus and chopped one of its heads off, he shook and struggled and threw me 30 metres away, I hit a wall and sprinted back to Cerberus but when I saw him again the head I chopped off had regenerated and as I went to swing again it charged at me and knocked down it jumped on me started scratching relentlessly and viciously until I finally stopped struggling and wriggled to safety out the cave.

Everyday I went back but every time Cerberus had gotten the better of me. I fought him every day for years until finally I couldn’t go anymore and gave up.

A few years later all the fighting had caught up with me and I’d fallen dead. Fortunately I was brought to the underworld and was with Eurydice forever.

Ashley Heathfield

Year 7         7W1P

Task 2: Five examples of emotive language:

1) But tell me, tell me speak again!…    How does this set the tone of the poem?     Answer: It tells us that he is maybe asking a question and wants to know more.

2) See, brother, see! How graciously she looketh down on him.

Answer: I think as all his crew but him are dead, that maybe he is talking to his dead brother saying how god or someone is looking down on his body.

3) Fly, brother, fly! More high, more high Or we shall be belated.

Answer: I think that he may be telling his brother to fly his soul to heaven or he will be late for some thing.

4) I woke, and we were sailing on ‘Twas night, calm night, the moon was high.

Answer: It says ‘I woke’ so that means he was sleeping. It also says ‘Twas night, Calm night’ means that the night was calm, quiet and probably means that the sea wasn’t  choppy or rough and that it was gentle and calm.

5) All fixed on me their stony eyes

Answer: It means that all the dead crew seem as though they are staring with empty eyes at the mariner.

Q 1,  I looked upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away; I looked upon the rotting deck, and there the dead men lay.       Why did the poet repeat this phrase ‘I looked’?         Answer, It shows that he isn’t looking at the sea any differently from the deck. It also draws your attention.

Q 2, Finish later

This story is based in 1861-1865 during the American Civil War.

A woman and her husband lived together by a bridge over a river.  One day the husband had to go away for three month, in that time the woman found a lover as a way to make money as she couldn’t get a job. After a few months the woman had heard that her husband was coming home from the army for a while, so she then left her lover, to cross the bridge back to her husband but now there was a soldier in the way, the soldier told her that he had orders that no one must cross the bridge otherwise he would shoot them. Near the bridge was a boat and a boatman with a black and red shirt, the woman asked him to bring her across the bridge and the boatman said he would if she gave him $100, the woman didn’t have $100 so she asked her lover but the lover refused and said he didn’t have the money. The woman tried to cross the bridge and the soldier shot her dead.