Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Transformation of Clytie
4:391 Tho' guilty Clytie thus the sun betray'd,
4:392 By too much passion she was guilty
made.
4:393 Excess of love begot excess of
grief,
4:394 Grief fondly bad her hence to
hope relief.
4:395 But angry Phoebus hears, unmov'd,
her sighs,
4:396 And scornful from her loath'd
embraces flies.
4:397 All day, all night, in trackless
wilds, alone
4:398 She pin'd, and taught the list'ning
rocks her moan.
4:399 On the bare earth she lies, her
bosom bare,
4:400 Loose her attire, dishevel'd
is her hair.
4:401 Nine times the morn unbarr'd
the gates of light,
4:402 As oft were spread th' alternate
shades of night,
4:403 So long no sustenance the mourner
knew,
4:404 Unless she drunk her tears, or
suck'd the dew.
4:405 She turn'd about, but rose not
from the ground,
4:406 Turn'd to the Sun, still as he
roul'd his round:
4:407 On his bright face hung her desiring
eyes,
4:408 'Till fix'd to Earth, she strove
in vain to rise.
4:409 Her looks their paleness in a
flow'r retain'd,
4:410 But here, and there, some purple
streaks they gain'd.
4:411 Still the lov'd object the fond
leafs pursue,
4:412 Still move their root, the moving
Sun to view,
4:413 And in the Heliotrope the nymph
is true.
4:414 The sisters heard these wonders with surprise,
4:415 But part receiv'd them as romantick
lies;
4:416 And pertly rally'd, that they
could not see
4:417 In Pow'rs divine so vast an energy.
4:418 Part own'd, true Gods such miracles
might do,
4:419 But own'd not Bacchus, one among
the true.
4:420 At last a common, just request
they make,
4:421 And beg Alcithoe her turn to
take.
4:422 I will (she said) and please
you, if I can.
4:423 Then shot her shuttle swift,
and thus began.
4:424 The fate of Daphnis is a fate too known,
4:425 Whom an enamour'd nymph transform'd
to stone,
4:426 Because she fear'd another nymph
might see
4:427 The lovely youth, and love as
much as she:
4:428 So strange the madness is of
jealousie!
4:429 Nor shall I tell, what changes
Scython made,
4:430 And how he walk'd a man, or tripp'd
a maid.
4:431 You too would peevish frown,
and patience want
4:432 To hear, how Celmis grew an adamant.
4:433 He once was dear to Jove, and
saw of old
4:434 Jove, when a child; but what
he saw, he told.
4:435 Crocus, and Smilax may be turn'd
to flow'rs,
4:436 And the Curetes spring from bounteous
show'rs;
4:437 I pass a hundred legends stale,
as these,
4:438 And with sweet novelty your taste
will please.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Transformation of Clytie
4:391 Tho' guilty Clytie thus the sun betray'd,
4:392 By too much passion she was guilty
made.
4:393 Excess of love begot excess of
grief,
4:394 Grief fondly bad her hence to
hope relief.
4:395 But angry Phoebus hears, unmov'd,
her sighs,
4:396 And scornful from her loath'd
embraces flies.
4:397 All day, all night, in trackless
wilds, alone
4:398 She pin'd, and taught the list'ning
rocks her moan.
4:399 On the bare earth she lies, her
bosom bare,
4:400 Loose her attire, dishevel'd
is her hair.
4:401 Nine times the morn unbarr'd
the gates of light,
4:402 As oft were spread th' alternate
shades of night,
4:403 So long no sustenance the mourner
knew,
4:404 Unless she drunk her tears, or
suck'd the dew.
4:405 She turn'd about, but rose not
from the ground,
4:406 Turn'd to the Sun, still as he
roul'd his round:
4:407 On his bright face hung her desiring
eyes,
4:408 'Till fix'd to Earth, she strove
in vain to rise.
4:409 Her looks their paleness in a
flow'r retain'd,
4:410 But here, and there, some purple
streaks they gain'd.
4:411 Still the lov'd object the fond
leafs pursue,
4:412 Still move their root, the moving
Sun to view,
4:413 And in the Heliotrope the nymph
is true.
4:414 The sisters heard these wonders with surprise,
4:415 But part receiv'd them as romantick
lies;
4:416 And pertly rally'd, that they
could not see
4:417 In Pow'rs divine so vast an energy.
4:418 Part own'd, true Gods such miracles
might do,
4:419 But own'd not Bacchus, one among
the true.
4:420 At last a common, just request
they make,
4:421 And beg Alcithoe her turn to
take.
4:422 I will (she said) and please
you, if I can.
4:423 Then shot her shuttle swift,
and thus began.
4:424 The fate of Daphnis is a fate too known,
4:425 Whom an enamour'd nymph transform'd
to stone,
4:426 Because she fear'd another nymph
might see
4:427 The lovely youth, and love as
much as she:
4:428 So strange the madness is of
jealousie!
4:429 Nor shall I tell, what changes
Scython made,
4:430 And how he walk'd a man, or tripp'd
a maid.
4:431 You too would peevish frown,
and patience want
4:432 To hear, how Celmis grew an adamant.
4:433 He once was dear to Jove, and
saw of old
4:434 Jove, when a child; but what
he saw, he told.
4:435 Crocus, and Smilax may be turn'd
to flow'rs,
4:436 And the Curetes spring from bounteous
show'rs;
4:437 I pass a hundred legends stale,
as these,
4:438 And with sweet novelty your taste
will please.