Underground Rivers - University of New Mexico

I see bright honor sparkle through your eyes;
Of famous Arcady ye are, and sprung
Of that renowned flood, so often sung,
Divine Alpheus, who, by secret sluice,
Stole under seas to meet his Arethusa;
Chapter 28 -- Et In Arcadia Ego
Using the symbolic flow of water to connect Greek poetry to its descendant, Sicilian poetry, the
poem recalls images of shepherds, nymphs, and pastoral landscapes, subjects with which Milton
was well versed from Sidney's Arcadia.
But what is pure and undefiled must eventually be corrupted by humankind. To disillusioned
modern philosophers, the underground river was to more and more represent history's
melancholy underpinning.
Et In Arcadia Ego
The inscription "Et In Arcadia Ego" -- "And I (death) am even in Arcadia" -- first appeared in a
1608 painting by Giovanni Barbieri. The underground river represents life's ultimate fate, often
portrayed by a tombstone or a fountain.
Nicolas Poussin painted two versions of Les Bergers d' Arcadie (The Shepherds of Arcadia),
more commonly known as "Et In Arcadia Ego, I" and "Et In Arcadia Ego, II."
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