Up then, Melpomene

Song Meaning

This lament calls upon Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy, to witness an unparalleled sorrow. The narrator declares that never before has there been such cause for mourning, immediately establishing a tone of profound grief. The invocation of "grisly ghosts" and the narrator's own "rueful rime" suggests a descent into darkness, where former "mirth" is now extinguished. The central, devastating fact is the death of "Dido, my dear."