then reports news of Orpheus that he has some-
how learned (at a minimum this suggests that
the transformation Orpheus effected in the
tree’s consciousness is permanent). This portion
alludes to the main elements of Orpheus’s myth.
The tree refers to Orpheus’s trip to the under-
world to bring back Eurydice, his dead bride,
only to lose her a second time; to the poet’s
dismemberment (which the tree understands
through the metaphor of cutting off a tree’s
limbs for fuel) by frenzied maenad worshippers
of the god Dionysus; and to the continued sing-
ing of Orpheus’s head after it is cast into the
ocean. While the tree continues to hope for
Orpheus’s return, its life has been forever trans-
formed by its experience of hearing Orpheus’s
song, which continues to inform everything else
the tree experiences. In a final paradox, the tree
explains its memory of dancing and hearing the
music, which transformed its life into one of
longing for the music’s return, as painful.
THEMESMyth of Orpheus
In Greek myth, Orpheus was a hero—a being
more than an ordinary mortal but less than
a god. The ancient Greeks developed a frame-
work to associate events from their mythic past,
as enshrined in poetry, with the established
chronology of historical events. On this under-
standing, Orpheus lived during the heroic age
described by the poet Hesiod, a generation before
the Trojan War, which the Greeks traditionally
dated to 1184BCE. Significantly, Orpheus, com-
ing from Thrace (modern Bulgaria), was seen by
the Greeks as an outsider. He nevertheless played
two important interrelated roles in Greek culture.
He was the shamanic founder of a mystery cult of
the god Dionysus devoted to healing and per-
sonal salvation, incorporating myths and rituals
from Egypt and the Near East. This, probably
more important, function of Orpheus remains
obscure because of the secrecy involved in its
initiations and the loss of the ancient poems
used by priests of the cult. However, Orpheus
also figured in a series of well-known and popular
narrative myths.
These popular myths are what Levertov
draws from in ‘‘A Tree Telling of Orpheus.’’ The
myths of Orpheus include four main themes,
which are all characteristic of traditional shamanic
ritual practices and are all alluded to by Levertov.
Shamanismis a term used by modern scholars to
refertoaclassofpractices and beliefs that have
been present in the early stages of the development
of religions of many peoples throughout the
world. Shamans claim the power to work miracles
based on their journeys to the other world, that of
gods and the dead, and the ability to mediate on
behalf of others with the divine world. AmongTOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDY‘‘A Tree Telling of Orpheus’’ focuses on
Orpheus’s miracle of moving trees by his
song. Read more about Orpheus, and write
your own poem describing another of his
miracles, such as attracting and taming
wild animals by song. Adopt an anthropo-
morphic first-person perspective for your
poem, as Levertov does in her poem.
Give a presentation to your class interpret-
ing some of the many pieces of literature,
films, and paintings that deal with the myth
of Orpheus, such as Claudio Monteverdi’s
operaL’Orfeoand Jean Cocteau’sOrphic
Trilogyof films.
The environmental or green movement was a
significant movement of protest in the 1960s.
The idea of ‘‘A Tree Telling of Orpheus’’ as
told from the viewpoint of a tree would seem
an ideal platform to explore this movement.
Does Levertov seem to support environmen-
talism in the poem? Research her stance on
environmentalism, along with that of J. R. R.
Tolkien in his presentation of the Ents, also
walking trees, in his trilogyThe Lord of the
Rings. Prepare a brief paper comparing the
views of both authors.
Illustrate your favorite part of Levertov’s
poem in a painting or drawing and present
it to your class. In your presentation, explain
the part of the poem on which your drawing
is based and discuss your interpretation of
the scene.ATreeTellingofOrpheus