The heir of Atlas struggled as he could Against the pleasure that the girl desired, But she clung to him as though their flesh were one, ‘Dear, naughty boy,’ she said, ‘to torture me; But you won’t get away. O gods in heaven, Give me this blessing; clip him within my arms Like this forever.’ At which the gods agreed: They grew one body, one face, one pair of arms And legs, as one might graft branches upon A tree, so two became nor boy nor girl, Neither yet both within a single body.
