Hylas and the Nymph
J.M. Waterhouse, Hylas and the Nymphs (1897)
As I knelt by the water’s edge
She came to me in all her versions
Naked and youthful with flowers in her hair.
I knew her name yet couldn’t say it,
I found I couldn’t say much at all.
Her sisters watched as hunters watch prey
Still amongst the reeds and lily pads.
She touched my arm, pulled slightly
As an angel would grasp a cloud.
I felt my will go with her,
My body resisting, remembering the earth.
I felt my spirit fall into her eyes,
Fall deep within her obsidian pupils
Deep into a darkness without air.
Andy Eycott
