Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream

...lopped at the peaks, above the muddy river, where I saw the sky torn by the obstructing leafy branches and dried ones alike; a horrific place for a man to find himself alone without any crossing. Furthermore, the far banks appeared even more obscure and intricate than the near ones. Here was my terror: to hear from there, at times, the whistling ruin of trees, a crashing of branches, and a crackling splitting of wood, with a doubled and hair-raising noise original: "horriſono ſtrepito", echoing through a long stretch of the tree-density and the trapped air.

Therefore, I, Poliphilo, terrified and afflicted, having escaped such horror and wishing to draw the desired waters from the green banks, knelt upon my knees original: "popliti" and, bringing my fingers together to form a hollowed cup of my palms, I made a most welcome vessel for drinking. This I dipped into the spring and filled with water to offer to my parched and panting mouth, and to refresh the dryness of my burning breast. It was more pleasing to me then than the HyphasisA river in India, now known as the Beas; one of the rivers encountered by Alexander the Great. and the Ganges are to the Indians, or the Tigris and Euphrates to the Armenians; nor is the Nile so pleasing to the Ethiopian people—or to the Egyptians when its flooding soaks the parched earth. Nor was the EridanusThe ancient name for the River Po in Italy. so dear to the Ligurian people as these most welcome and fresh banks were offered to me. Nor was the spring shown by the fleeing Ram to Father LiberAnother name for Bacchus (Dionysus), the god of wine. Legend says a ram led him and his thirsty army to a hidden spring in the Libyan desert. so delightful.

It happened that no sooner were the expected and desirable waters, held within the enclosure of my cupped hand, about to reach my open mouth, than in that instant I heard a Dorian song—I am convinced that not even Thamyris the ThracianA legendary singer of Greek mythology who was so proud of his skill that he challenged the Muses to a contest. could have invented it—penetrating through my hollowed ears and passing into my restless heart with such smooth sweetness and harmony. It was a voice not of this earth, with such harmony, such incredible resonance, and such unusual proportion. Oh, how much more than could ever be imagined!

For without doubt, this thing exceeds the power of narration. Its sweetness and delight provided me with far more pleasure than the little drink being offered. So much so that, while the water drawn into the enclosure between the gaps of my fingers remained, my intellect was almost insensible and already stupefied, and my appetite was soothed; with no strength left to resist, my fingers unclasped their knots, and the water scattered upon the damp earth.