The Ballad Of Echo And Narcissus Poem by Giovanna Marasco

i
In a land far from here,
And deep in the past,
Lived a nymph who could talk
Without thought, long and fast.

This nymph's name was Echo,
And a beauty was she,
But her incessant chatter
Was like a disease.

The nymph forced Queen Juno
To cast on her a spell
And rid the poor, young Echo
Of her awful voice from hell.

Now all that she can say
Is that which others have said
And never now, again
The thoughts within her head.

ii
With the passing of time
Echo rested in silence,
And from her forest abode,
Watched peace and watched violence.

When suddenly, one day
Came a handsome young man
By the name of Narcissus,
To hunt, with his clan.

When the lonely Echo saw him,
She did not stand a chance,
For her heart was surely his,
From the very first glance.

But Narcissus did not see her,
Nor was he aware,
Of the love she felt inside her
And had hoped that he might share.

iii
Echo could not tell him,
No matter how she tried,
Her love thought her a nuisance,
Even more so, when she cried.

He could not understand why
This woman would repeat his words,
When all that he had come to do,
Was hopefully kill some birds.

But Echo understood,
As her love aimed for the skies,
And when out of the heavens fell his bird,
She too fell down and died.

The nymph slowly faded,
But left her heart and soul,
To stay and live on Earth
And answer every call.

iv
Narcissus did not miss her,
But he did now feel a thirst.
Little did he know,
That this was to be his curse.

The vain and foolish hunter,
Caught sight of a small pond
And as he knelt to drink some water,
Saw a face, young, pretty and blond.

Never before had he seen,
A face like the one he saw now,
So he gave his heart, in exactly the way
That poor Echo didn't know he knew how.

What Narcissus didn't see
Was that he couldn't be loved by this face,
Because it was his reflection,
And could not escape the surface.

v
Narcissus didn't realise
That, in truth, he loved himself.
It was this self-absorbtion,
That would soon cost him his health.

For each time he would reach down,
His love would disappear,
Narcissus could not touch the face,
And instead would feel a tear.

Never did he leave,
He stayed there night and day
Ever trying to touch his love,
And slowly turning grey.

In time, he too faded,
Just as Echo had before,
But still his soul lies by the water,
As a flower, forever more.

(May Day 2006)