Apollo and Daphne by Bernini - A Collaboration with David Kavanagh

We start at the end, with the warmth of his breath on her skin Baulked by proximity, he never knew how to begin A golden-tainted obsession, bitterly laced with lead Transformed rapture to quicksilver the instant Cupid fled A moment held, made static, tender touch met with distress For seeded in her veins, lies a stem of the wilderness Pursuit stalled just in time, yet time itself recalibrates Supplanted upon breaking, a laurel shoot germinates Oh, what should have been the faintest touch cannot be undone Rooted in the throes of escape, bound to bask in full sun Sinews harden to fibre, each pulse springs a bonsai tree Bark chokes her voice box; silent screams nest in the canopy Locked in abjection, as her praying hands first plead then splay As liberty, though not consciousness, is taken away Overruled in evergreen, contortion as regal crown Petrified white marble shall become her eternal gown In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the god Apollo mocks Cupid for wielding a bow, claiming it unworthy of a child. In retaliation, Cupid shoots Apollo with a golden arrow to ignite love, and Daphne a chaste nymph with a leaden one to incite revulsion. Though innocent, Daphne becomes the target of Apollo’s relentless pursuit. Just as he is about to seize her, she prays for escape, and her body is transformed into a laurel tree. Bernini’s sculpture captures the precise moment of this metamorphosis.