Summary

"Good Dog I, II and III" is chapbook of prose poetry concerning the myth of Orpheus, the famed singer who descends to the underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydike, after her death.

The first poem in the collection is "Good Dog I"; "Good Dog I" is written in first person from Orpheus' perspective, and it details his memories from his descent to hell, which he "scarcely remember[s]." The poem begins with an anecdote; Orpheus tells the reader that "the second person in the history of the world the Sun chose to speak to personally was Frank O'Hara the first was Orpheus (me)." In this anecdote lies a kernel of mythology — Orpheus was descended from Apollo, the god both of poetry and of the Sun, and thus, Carson here establishes Orpheus' lineage and his artistic ability in one line...