Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Narcissus
3:500 Thus did the nymphs in vain caress the boy,
3:501 He still was lovely, but he still
was coy;
3:502 When one fair virgin of the slighted
train
3:503 Thus pray'd the Gods, provok'd
by his disdain,
3:504 "Oh may he love like me,
and love like me in vain!"
3:505 Rhamnusia pity'd the neglected
fair,
3:506 And with just vengeance answer'd
to her pray'r.
3:507 There stands a fountain in a darksom wood,
3:508 Nor stain'd with falling leaves
nor rising mud;
3:509 Untroubled by the breath of winds
it rests,
3:510 Unsully'd by the touch of men
or beasts;
3:511 High bow'rs of shady trees above
it grow,
3:512 And rising grass and chearful
greens below.
3:513 Pleas'd with the form and coolness
of the place,
3:514 And over-heated by the morning
chace,
3:515 Narcissus on the grassie verdure
lyes:
3:516 But whilst within the chrystal
fount he tries
3:517 To quench his heat, he feels
new heats arise.
3:518 For as his own bright image he
survey'd,
3:519 He fell in love with the fantastick
shade;
3:520 And o'er the fair resemblance
hung unmov'd,
3:521 Nor knew, fond youth! it was
himself he lov'd.
3:522 The well-turn'd neck and shoulders
he descries,
3:523 The spacious forehead, and the
sparkling eyes;
3:524 The hands that Bacchus might
not scorn to show,
3:525 And hair that round Apollo's
head might flow;
3:526 With all the purple youthfulness
of face,
3:527 That gently blushes in the wat'ry
glass.
3:528 By his own flames consum'd the
lover lyes,
3:529 And gives himself the wound by
which he dies.
3:530 To the cold water oft he joins
his lips,
3:531 Oft catching at the beauteous
shade he dips
3:532 His arms, as often from himself
he slips.
3:533 Nor knows he who it is his arms
pursue
3:534 With eager clasps, but loves
he knows not who.
3:535 What could, fond youth, this helpless passion
move?
3:536 What kindled in thee this unpity'd
love?
3:537 Thy own warm blush within the
water glows,
3:538 With thee the colour'd shadow
comes and goes,
3:539 Its empty being on thy self relies;
3:540 Step thou aside, and the frail
charmer dies.
3:541 Still o'er the fountain's wat'ry gleam he
stood,
3:542 Mindless of sleep, and negligent
of food;
3:543 Still view'd his face, and languish'd
as he view'd.
3:544 At length he rais'd his head,
and thus began
3:545 To vent his griefs, and tell
the woods his pain.
3:546 "You trees," says he,
"and thou surrounding grove,
3:547 Who oft have been the kindly
scenes of love,
3:548 Tell me, if e'er within your
shades did lye
3:549 A youth so tortur'd, so perplex'd
as I?
3:550 I, who before me see the charming
fair,
3:551 Whilst there he stands, and yet
he stands not there:
3:552 In such a maze of love my thoughts
are lost:
3:553 And yet no bulwark'd town, nor
distant coast,
3:554 Preserves the beauteous youth
from being seen,
3:555 No mountains rise, nor oceans
flow between.
3:556 A shallow water hinders my embrace;
3:557 And yet the lovely mimick wears
a face
3:558 That kindly smiles, and when
I bend to join
3:559 My lips to his, he fondly bends
to mine.
3:560 Hear, gentle youth, and pity
my complaint,
3:561 Come from thy well, thou fair
inhabitant.
3:562 My charms an easy conquest have
obtain'd
3:563 O'er other hearts, by thee alone
disdain'd.
3:564 But why should I despair? I'm
sure he burns
3:565 With equal flames, and languishes
by turns.
3:566 When-e'er I stoop, he offers
at a kiss,
3:567 And when my arms I stretch, he
stretches his.
3:568 His eye with pleasure on my face
he keeps,
3:569 He smiles my smiles, and when
I weep he weeps.
3:570 When e'er I speak, his moving
lips appear
3:571 To utter something, which I cannot
hear.
3:572 "Ah wretched me! I now begin too late
3:573 To find out all the long-perplex'd
deceit;
3:574 It is my self I love, my self
I see;
3:575 The gay delusion is a part of
me.
3:576 I kindle up the fires by which
I burn,
3:577 And my own beauties from the
well return.
3:578 Whom should I court? how utter
my complaint?
3:579 Enjoyment but produces my restraint,
3:580 And too much plenty makes me
die for want.
3:581 How gladly would I from my self
remove!
3:582 And at a distance set the thing
I love.
3:583 My breast is warm'd with such
unusual fire,
3:584 I wish him absent whom I most
desire.
3:585 And now I faint with grief; my
fate draws nigh;
3:586 In all the pride of blooming
youth I die.
3:587 Death will the sorrows of my
heart relieve.
3:588 Oh might the visionary youth
survive,
3:589 I should with joy my latest breath
resign!
3:590 But oh! I see his fate involv'd
in mine."
3:591 This said, the weeping youth again return'd
3:592 To the clear fountain, where
again he burn'd;
3:593 His tears defac'd the surface
of the well,
3:594 With circle after circle, as
they fell:
3:595 And now the lovely face but half
appears,
3:596 O'er-run with wrinkles, and deform'd
with tears.
3:597 "Ah whither," cries
Narcissus, "dost thou fly?
3:598 Let me still feed the flame by
which I die;
3:599 Let me still see, tho' I'm no
further blest."
3:600 Then rends his garment off, and
beats his breast:
3:601 His naked bosom redden'd with
the blow,
3:602 In such a blush as purple clusters
show,
3:603 Ere yet the sun's autumnal heats
refine
3:604 Their sprightly juice, and mellow
it to wine.
3:605 The glowing beauties of his breast
he spies,
3:606 And with a new redoubled passion
dies.
3:607 As wax dissolves, as ice begins
to run,
3:608 And trickle into drops before
the sun;
3:609 So melts the youth, and languishes
away,
3:610 His beauty withers, and his limbs
decay;
3:611 And none of those attractive
charms remain,
3:612 To which the slighted Echo su'd
in vain.
3:613 She saw him in his present misery,
3:614 Whom, spight of all her wrongs,
she griev'd to see.
3:615 She answer'd sadly to the lover's
moan,
3:616 Sigh'd back his sighs, and groan'd
to ev'ry groan:
3:617 "Ah youth! belov'd in vain,"
Narcissus cries;
3:618 "Ah youth! belov'd in vain,"
the nymph replies.
3:619 "Farewel," says he;
the parting sound scarce fell
3:620 From his faint lips, but she
reply'd, "farewel."
3:621 Then on th' wholsome earth he
gasping lyes,
3:622 'Till death shuts up those self-admiring
eyes.
3:623 To the cold shades his flitting
ghost retires,
3:624 And in the Stygian waves it self
admires.
3:625 For him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn,
3:626 Whom the sad Echo answers in
her turn;
3:627 And now the sister-nymphs prepare
his urn:
3:628 When, looking for his corps,
they only found
3:629 A rising stalk, with yellow blossoms
crown'd.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Story of Narcissus
3:500 Thus did the nymphs in vain caress the boy,
3:501 He still was lovely, but he still
was coy;
3:502 When one fair virgin of the slighted
train
3:503 Thus pray'd the Gods, provok'd
by his disdain,
3:504 "Oh may he love like me,
and love like me in vain!"
3:505 Rhamnusia pity'd the neglected
fair,
3:506 And with just vengeance answer'd
to her pray'r.
3:507 There stands a fountain in a darksom wood,
3:508 Nor stain'd with falling leaves
nor rising mud;
3:509 Untroubled by the breath of winds
it rests,
3:510 Unsully'd by the touch of men
or beasts;
3:511 High bow'rs of shady trees above
it grow,
3:512 And rising grass and chearful
greens below.
3:513 Pleas'd with the form and coolness
of the place,
3:514 And over-heated by the morning
chace,
3:515 Narcissus on the grassie verdure
lyes:
3:516 But whilst within the chrystal
fount he tries
3:517 To quench his heat, he feels
new heats arise.
3:518 For as his own bright image he
survey'd,
3:519 He fell in love with the fantastick
shade;
3:520 And o'er the fair resemblance
hung unmov'd,
3:521 Nor knew, fond youth! it was
himself he lov'd.
3:522 The well-turn'd neck and shoulders
he descries,
3:523 The spacious forehead, and the
sparkling eyes;
3:524 The hands that Bacchus might
not scorn to show,
3:525 And hair that round Apollo's
head might flow;
3:526 With all the purple youthfulness
of face,
3:527 That gently blushes in the wat'ry
glass.
3:528 By his own flames consum'd the
lover lyes,
3:529 And gives himself the wound by
which he dies.
3:530 To the cold water oft he joins
his lips,
3:531 Oft catching at the beauteous
shade he dips
3:532 His arms, as often from himself
he slips.
3:533 Nor knows he who it is his arms
pursue
3:534 With eager clasps, but loves
he knows not who.
3:535 What could, fond youth, this helpless passion
move?
3:536 What kindled in thee this unpity'd
love?
3:537 Thy own warm blush within the
water glows,
3:538 With thee the colour'd shadow
comes and goes,
3:539 Its empty being on thy self relies;
3:540 Step thou aside, and the frail
charmer dies.
3:541 Still o'er the fountain's wat'ry gleam he
stood,
3:542 Mindless of sleep, and negligent
of food;
3:543 Still view'd his face, and languish'd
as he view'd.
3:544 At length he rais'd his head,
and thus began
3:545 To vent his griefs, and tell
the woods his pain.
3:546 "You trees," says he,
"and thou surrounding grove,
3:547 Who oft have been the kindly
scenes of love,
3:548 Tell me, if e'er within your
shades did lye
3:549 A youth so tortur'd, so perplex'd
as I?
3:550 I, who before me see the charming
fair,
3:551 Whilst there he stands, and yet
he stands not there:
3:552 In such a maze of love my thoughts
are lost:
3:553 And yet no bulwark'd town, nor
distant coast,
3:554 Preserves the beauteous youth
from being seen,
3:555 No mountains rise, nor oceans
flow between.
3:556 A shallow water hinders my embrace;
3:557 And yet the lovely mimick wears
a face
3:558 That kindly smiles, and when
I bend to join
3:559 My lips to his, he fondly bends
to mine.
3:560 Hear, gentle youth, and pity
my complaint,
3:561 Come from thy well, thou fair
inhabitant.
3:562 My charms an easy conquest have
obtain'd
3:563 O'er other hearts, by thee alone
disdain'd.
3:564 But why should I despair? I'm
sure he burns
3:565 With equal flames, and languishes
by turns.
3:566 When-e'er I stoop, he offers
at a kiss,
3:567 And when my arms I stretch, he
stretches his.
3:568 His eye with pleasure on my face
he keeps,
3:569 He smiles my smiles, and when
I weep he weeps.
3:570 When e'er I speak, his moving
lips appear
3:571 To utter something, which I cannot
hear.
3:572 "Ah wretched me! I now begin too late
3:573 To find out all the long-perplex'd
deceit;
3:574 It is my self I love, my self
I see;
3:575 The gay delusion is a part of
me.
3:576 I kindle up the fires by which
I burn,
3:577 And my own beauties from the
well return.
3:578 Whom should I court? how utter
my complaint?
3:579 Enjoyment but produces my restraint,
3:580 And too much plenty makes me
die for want.
3:581 How gladly would I from my self
remove!
3:582 And at a distance set the thing
I love.
3:583 My breast is warm'd with such
unusual fire,
3:584 I wish him absent whom I most
desire.
3:585 And now I faint with grief; my
fate draws nigh;
3:586 In all the pride of blooming
youth I die.
3:587 Death will the sorrows of my
heart relieve.
3:588 Oh might the visionary youth
survive,
3:589 I should with joy my latest breath
resign!
3:590 But oh! I see his fate involv'd
in mine."
3:591 This said, the weeping youth again return'd
3:592 To the clear fountain, where
again he burn'd;
3:593 His tears defac'd the surface
of the well,
3:594 With circle after circle, as
they fell:
3:595 And now the lovely face but half
appears,
3:596 O'er-run with wrinkles, and deform'd
with tears.
3:597 "Ah whither," cries
Narcissus, "dost thou fly?
3:598 Let me still feed the flame by
which I die;
3:599 Let me still see, tho' I'm no
further blest."
3:600 Then rends his garment off, and
beats his breast:
3:601 His naked bosom redden'd with
the blow,
3:602 In such a blush as purple clusters
show,
3:603 Ere yet the sun's autumnal heats
refine
3:604 Their sprightly juice, and mellow
it to wine.
3:605 The glowing beauties of his breast
he spies,
3:606 And with a new redoubled passion
dies.
3:607 As wax dissolves, as ice begins
to run,
3:608 And trickle into drops before
the sun;
3:609 So melts the youth, and languishes
away,
3:610 His beauty withers, and his limbs
decay;
3:611 And none of those attractive
charms remain,
3:612 To which the slighted Echo su'd
in vain.
3:613 She saw him in his present misery,
3:614 Whom, spight of all her wrongs,
she griev'd to see.
3:615 She answer'd sadly to the lover's
moan,
3:616 Sigh'd back his sighs, and groan'd
to ev'ry groan:
3:617 "Ah youth! belov'd in vain,"
Narcissus cries;
3:618 "Ah youth! belov'd in vain,"
the nymph replies.
3:619 "Farewel," says he;
the parting sound scarce fell
3:620 From his faint lips, but she
reply'd, "farewel."
3:621 Then on th' wholsome earth he
gasping lyes,
3:622 'Till death shuts up those self-admiring
eyes.
3:623 To the cold shades his flitting
ghost retires,
3:624 And in the Stygian waves it self
admires.
3:625 For him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn,
3:626 Whom the sad Echo answers in
her turn;
3:627 And now the sister-nymphs prepare
his urn:
3:628 When, looking for his corps,
they only found
3:629 A rising stalk, with yellow blossoms
crown'd.