2Maygen Bazemore

English 101

7 February 2016

Phillips

Cocktails with Orpheus 

Terrance Hayes' "Cocktails with Orpheus" is overall a poem of regret. The narrator looks back on his decision to rape women. There are several points in the poem in which the reader gets the idea that his wrongdoing gave him punishment, which seems to be why he is remorseful. Throughout the poem, one can see how dissatisfied the narrator is with his decisions, predominantly because of the outcome. Hayes uses the structure, point of view, and tone of the poem, symbolism, metaphors, and imagery to show the remorse that the narrator has for what he has done and just how important it is to affirm that you are ready to face whatever the consequences of your actions may be, whether positive or negative. He also makes it known that no matter what happens, you are not alone.

Hayes uses a great deal of symbolism and metaphors throughout the poem. Orpheus himself is a fantastic symbol used. Orpheus was a musician from Greek myths. He was known for playing beautiful music, and when his wife, Eurydice died and went to the underworld, he played beautiful music that gave Hades a bit of compassion. Hades decided he would let Orpheus take Eurydice back from the underworld with him as long as he didn't look back at her as they ascended. The couple had almost made it to the top when Orpheus looked back at his wife, sending her back down to the underworld. Hayes used Orpheus' mistake to get the basic moral of the story across: Don't do something you'll regret. 

"When Orpheus hands me his sunglasses, I see how fire changes everything." These are two of the most important symbols in the poem. The sunglasses can be interpreted as a symbol of what Orpheus went through. They show that Orpheus empathizes with the narrator. He understands that the narrator regrets his decision and is full of pain and sorrow because of it. The reader can also get the idea that Orpheus is trying to give a kind, supportive gesture by handing the narrator the sunglasses in the bar so that he can hide his sadness. This could be interpreted by the reader as a smaller moral that Hayes produced in the poem. There is always someone out there who is going through something similar, whether good or bad. In this case, they are both suffering with their own regret, but they have each other's company to comfort them. This does not mean that their grief to bear is any lighter. Orpheus and the narrator's grief are both over very different things, but the fact that they are both suffering with regret gives them a similar connection. This point in the poem is also where the narrator begins to open up about what he did. The sunglasses help him not only hide his sadness, but also hide his shame. He doesn't want eye contact while he is explaining his crime. 

The fire is a symbol of the consequences. Now that the narrator has seen the consequence, the pain and distress he is going through, he hates the actions he took. The fire also stands for the ultimate consequence: Hell. Because Orpheus turned his head back to look at his wife, she went back to the underworld. The narrator is in Hell now because of his poor decisions. Hayes mentions earlier in the poem, "the part that stood / naked outside the window of Miss Geneva, recent divorcee who owned a gun." This implies that the narrator learned Miss Geneva owned a gun the night he was standing naked outside her home. Miss Geneva shot the narrator and killed him that night, and now he is suffering in Hell and regrets his decisions. 

"A fold of pleas released." This line makes a huge difference in the poem. The word "pleas" means that the narrator not only raped one woman, but he raped multiple women. He did not seem to learn the first time that he would regret his decision. This also helps the reader come to the conclusion that Miss Geneva did in fact kill him. He continued on in his sin until he was shot. Once he had passed and had to face his consequences he began to regret everything. The word "fold" is also unique. 

The statement, "I am a black wound, what's left of the deed" is a powerful metaphor used at the very end of the poem. After recalling what he did, the narrator admits that he wishes he could take it all back. He compares himself to a black wound, like he isn't even worthy enough to be human. He's an unwanted wound to the world, something people are burdened with. The wound he compares himself to is similar to the bruises he most likely left on the females he raped when they were "as bound / as touch permits," or held by physical force. Wounds overtime will go away, but once someone has one, it is almost impossible to hide. They cannot just be washed away or forgotten. The narrator feels like it is hard to hide his sin, and even though the act itself will eventually pass on, he will never forget. The terrible act is not something he can just get rid of or move on from. The specific color black can also be a symbol of sin. 

Vague imagery is important in "Cocktails with Orpheus." The most detailed bit of imagery is the explanation of what happened. "I am behind a woman whose skirt is hiked above her hips ... . salt-milk, milk-sweet, animal-made." These three lines go into a bit of detail about what the narrator did. Hayes used imagery so the reader could understand what happened that upset the narrator so much, but he did not go into too much detail. The imagery being vague showed that going into too much detail was too painful for the narrator to suffer through. The term "animal-made" gives you a sort of image of how the crime was committed. 

The structure and tone certainly ties together the moral of the poem. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator is extremely vague about what he has done, which makes the point of view first person limited. This obscurity shows how ashamed the narrator is of what he has done. He is not yet ready to openly admit his wrongdoing. The tone throughout the poem, even at the beginning before the reader knows what has happened, is full of shame and sorrow, so one can assume something dreadful has happened that the narrator is hiding. " ...  The bar full of women that part of me loves ... " This shows the reader that there is something he/she does not yet know. It makes the reader curious about the mysterious part of him that loves a bar full of women. As the poem continues, one can sense the sorrow in the narrator's tone. "O Miss Geneva, where are you now." The reader can get the idea that he is worried about how the previous potential victim coped with the trauma of being spied on. Later in the poem, Hayes takes only three lines to talk about an incident. One can compare the poem as a whole to a beautiful piece of music, much like a piece Orpheus played. The poem begins with a minor adagio movement as the narrator somberly begins his story. Because he is holding back information the reader can feel a sort of slowness about the opening. As the poem continues, the reader can feel an increase in the intensity, giving him/her the sense that an Allegro movement has begun. "When Orpheus hands me his sunglasses, I see how fire changes everything." At the point, one naturally wants to begin to quicken the pace of reading, making the allegro quicken into a presto. This accelerando makes the narrator sound like the memory upsets and humiliates him. Both the length and the speed of the explanation shows that the narrator is trying to get the thought out of his head; he wants to get the confession over with. Into the twelfth line, one can sense a retardation back to the final movement, a gloomy adagio. The narrator has admitted his crime, and now is confessing his regret, but mournfully states he cannot go back. "I am a black wound, what's left of the deed." Here in the last line, he even seems a bit disgusted with himself.

In "Cocktails with Orpheus," Hayes did a fantastic job using the structure, point of view, and tone of the poem to really help the reader not only understand what the narrator was going through but also feel the emotions of sorrow, worry, pain, disgust, shame, and ultimately regret that he expressed throughout the piece. Hayes tied Orpheus and his background story into this poem in multiple ways, which gets the reader more involved in the poem. Symbolism, metaphors, and imagery were all used in the poem, causing the reader to have to dig into the reading to get the full picture. Hayes made the moral of the poem stand out on several levels, which is to make sure you can handle the result of whatever decision you make, because even though there are others out there dealing with similar outcomes, it is still your consequence to bear.
