The Fountain of Salmacis

From a dense forest of tall dark pinewood
Mount Ida rises like an island.
Within a hidden cave, nymphs had kept a child:
Hermaphroditus, son of gods, so afraid of their love.
As the dawn creeps up the sky,
The hunter caught sight of a doe.
In desire for conquest,
He found himself within a glade he'd not beheld before.

Where are you, my father?
Then he could go no further
Give wisdom to your son
Now lost, the boy was guided by the sun

And as his strength began to fail,
He saw a shimmering lake.
a shadow in the dark green depths
Disturbed the strange tranquility.

The waters are disturbed
The waters are disturbed
Some creature has been stirred
Naiad queen Salmacis has been stirred

As he rushed to quench his thirst,
A fountain spring appeared before him.
And as his heated breath brushed through the cool mist
A liquid voice called, "Son of gods, drink from my spring."
The water tasted strangely sweet.
Behind him the voice called again.
He turned and saw her, in a cloak of mist alone,
And as he gazed, her eyes were filled with the darkness of the lake.

We shall be one
She wanted them as one
We shall be joined as one'
Yet he had no desire to be one'

Away from me, cold-blooded woman.
Your thirst is not mine.

Nothing will cause us to part.
Hear me, O Gods!"

Unearthly calm ascended from the sky
And then their flesh and bones were strangely merged.
Forever to be joined as one.

The creature crawled into the lake.
A fading voice was heard:
And I beg, yes I beg, that all who touch this spring
May share my fate.

We are the one
The two are now made one,
We are the one
Demi-god and nymph are now made one

Both had given everything they had
A lover's dream had been fulfilled at last
Forever still beneath the lake