Destiny, not guilt, was enough
For Actaeon. It is no crime
To lose your way in a dark wood.

Weary with hunting and the hot sun
Narcissus found this pool.
Gratefully he stretched out full length,
To cup his hands in the clear cold
And to drink. But as he drank
A strange new thirst, a craving, unfamiliar,
Entered his body with the water,
And entered his eyes
With the reflection in the limpid mirror.
He could not believe the beauty
Of those eyes that gazed into his own.
As the taste of water flooded him.
So did love. So he lay, mistaking
That picture of himself on the meniscus
For the stranger who could make him happy.

Destiny, not guilt, was enough
For Actaeon. It is no crime
To lose your way in a dark wood.

(from Actaeon)

Some are transformed just once
And live their whole life after in that shape,
Others have a facility
For changing themseives as they please.

(from Erysichthon)