NARCISSI
One rather with the pool; the naiad fled,
Fled to some dank bed he could not discover.
He climbed without, pressing his dripping head
With hands that could not stifle vain love's sorrow,
Bound he would track his tempter on the morrow.
Fled to some dank bed he could not discover.
He climbed without, pressing his dripping head
With hands that could not stifle vain love's sorrow,
Bound he would track his tempter on the morrow.
IV.
"You fool!" companions jeered, "And is your face
So strange to you, Narcissus, you can throw
Yourself into cach woodland watering place,
Mad to embrace your shadow-self below?"
He would not heed, he sought unceasingly
The treacherous sprite, who answered smile with smile,
Gesture with gesture, pain with misery,
Yet would not yield its body any while.
He sickened and died beside the pool, and not
A seeker found his body; in its stead
A sweet strange flower bloomed upon the spot,
Drooping to its reflection its fair head,
Whose purple heart and creamy petals' hem
Hold still his name and grief embroidering them.
"You fool!" companions jeered, "And is your face
So strange to you, Narcissus, you can throw
Yourself into cach woodland watering place,
Mad to embrace your shadow-self below?"
He would not heed, he sought unceasingly
The treacherous sprite, who answered smile with smile,
Gesture with gesture, pain with misery,
Yet would not yield its body any while.
He sickened and died beside the pool, and not
A seeker found his body; in its stead
A sweet strange flower bloomed upon the spot,
Drooping to its reflection its fair head,
Whose purple heart and creamy petals' hem
Hold still his name and grief embroidering them.
47
