Who went searching for nymphs to woo.
He went to a glen, to a grove
And met a precious Alseid.
She tossed him away and left him
Without any hope of true love.
He traveled up hill to a vale
Where an Auloniad had been,
But she never appeared to give
Him a chance to plight her his troth.
On the breeze he met an Aura
Who blew him a kiss and wink.
That was all he would get from the
Little soft wind. Away she flew.
In a well one dear Crinaeae
Gave him sweet drink to slake his thirst,
That made him think he had now found
His mate, but she too dripped away.
In an oak he found a Dryad
With the strength of a mighty tree.
He hugged her unto his bosom
But still she could not get away.
One young Eleionomae saw him
As he passed through her marshy swamp.
An illusion she raised, deceived
His pure heart and rejected him.
Later an elm Hamadryad
Made him think he was one with her.
It was just her way to escape
His needs, and his loss was re-felt.
To the Hesperides garden
He traveled to ask for a hand.
Not one would leave the western bliss.
He had to return to his quest.
In a fresh water lake he leapt
To find a beauteous Limnade.
When he gave her a smile she dove
Deeper still and never came near.
One of the Meliae he found
Pressed into her ash tree alone.
He asked for her hand. She declined
As had others. He lost once more.
A Naiad swam to the lake shore
To kiss him the water nymph way.
But then she passed into the spring.
She never intended to stay.
In the grottoes Napaeae
Gave him to think he was lucky.
It all was a ruse to fool him,
They had never wished to please him.
To the seashore he went to see
If a Nereid would want him.
Not one would accept his wooing,
So away he went once again.
He looked at the clouds, the flowers.
He sought just one Oceanid.
They hid from his sight as they would
From all men and satyrs alike.
Up the mountain he climbed to seek
An Oread to treat sweetly.
As had all the others she hid
And so he was thwarted once more.
In springs he sought Pegaeae
And thought he was lucky this time.
As always he seemed to miss them.
They never appeared to his eyes.
Down brooks he tracked Pegasides
And the water cooled his ardor.
That was good as he never could
Find them, always hid from his sight.
To the stars he looked for heaven,
The Pleiades were what he sought.
They shone from above, lit his way,
But never came down to his arms.
A Potamide in a creek
Gave him hope that his love had come.
As before it was illusion,
His seeking was nearing its end.
With such little hope for success
His travels took him to the east
Where an Apsara met his gaze,
All her faith she pled in a vow.
It was done.
