ORFEO AND ETAIN or      "JUST FOR GRINS" a politically correct romance (if those terms are not mutually exclusive) by Glen Fitch dedicated to Joan B. Gratz      Dear guardian of the age of innocence, Of unicorns in pastorals left behind, To you the fragrant scent of lilac hints Of bowers, fountains, caverns of the mind. While through the wasteland's labyrinth I winde I seek once more the vale that still evades. I long to rest. In dreams alone I find The end of questing. Yet my memory aids.    Your vision clearly shines though sight of Eden fades. i    Please listen, friend. I mean to entertain You with a tale of love. Perhaps you know Of "Orpheus," "The Wooing of Etain," Or know the Breton lay "Sir Orfeo." Therein each singer sought some truth to show Of mortal pride and death, of lust and sin. I guess each teller let each story grow The current tastes to please. Let us begin.    From you I need no tears or laughter, just a grin. ii      There is an island battered by the sea And wind, where dawn and twilight linger long. Thereon a sturdy folk abided free. Without great walls or armies they were strong. Alas, their joy is lost except in song. The sister of their King was fair and wise.         All loved Etain! I fear it would be wrong To paint her features. Not in face or eyes,    Alone, in tender words and deeds true beauty lies. iii    But this I'll surely tell you, none could sing As well as she. Her voice was pure and sweet. Their Queen in child-birth died. Sore grieved the King. He sought his younger sister to entreat To raise his son. "Etain, I think it meet For him to have a mother, too." said he. Years passed. The King grew weak. "I go to greet My wife. She waits for me." Death set him free.    Though grieved the people said Etain their Queen should be.