When God, whichever God s/he was, created
The universe we know, s/he made of earth
A turning sphere so delicately poised
That water flowed in waves beneath the wind
And Ocean’s arms encircled the rough globe:
At God’s touch, lakes, springs, dancing waterfalls
Streamed downhill into valleys, waters glancing
Through rocks, grass and wild-flowered meadows;
Some ran their courses underground,
Others raced into seas and broader Ocean –
All poured from distant hills to farthest shores.
Publius Ovidius “Ovid” Naso,
translated from the Latin by Horace Gregory
