Before her prayer
was ended, torpor seized
on all her body, and a thin bark closed
around her gentle bosom, and her hair
became as moving leaves; her arms were changed
to waving branches, and her active feet
as clinging roots were fastened to the ground--
her face was hidden with encircling leaves.--
Phoebus admired and loved the graceful tree,
(For still, though changed, her slender form remained)
and with his right hand lingering on the trunk
he felt her bosom throbbing in the bark.
He clung to trunk and branch as though to twine.
His form with hers, and fondly kissed the wood
that shrank from every kiss. *
Ovid
Metamorphosis, Apollo and Daphne
*Annika Sundvik Gallery, New York: Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin:
Bluecoat, Liverpool, Globe Gallery, North Shields
|