The Disciple
Oscar Wilde 1854 (Dublin) – 1900 (Paris)
When Narcissus died the pool of his pleasure changed from a cup of
sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, and the Oreads came weeping
through the woodland that they might sing to the pool and give it
comfort.
And when they saw that the pool had changed from a cup of sweet
waters into a cup of salt tears, they loosened the green tresses of
their hair and cried to the pool and said, 'We do not wonder that
you should mourn in this manner for Narcissus, so beautiful was
he.'
'But was Narcissus beautiful?' said the pool.
'Who should know that better than you?' answered the Oreads. 'Us
did he ever pass by, but you he sought for, and would lie on your
banks and look down at you, and in the mirror of your waters he
would mirror his own beauty.'
And the pool answered, 'But I loved Narcissus because, as he lay on
my banks and looked down at me, in the mirror of his eyes I saw
ever my own beauty mirrored.'
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Submitted on March 03, 2016
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 749 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXXX XAXXB X XXBB XXX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 892 |
Words | 183 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 5, 1, 4, 3 |
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"The Disciple" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/44654/the-disciple>.
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