In classic Greek mythology, Daphne was a mountain nymph who was persued by Apollo-- but her cry for help was heard by her father, a river god, who, in order to protect her, transformed her into a laurel tree- Laurel, associated with praise, the spirit, and Nature. The tale of Apollo and Daphne's transformation into laurel tree received its most famous form in the Latin poem in 15 books, The Metamorphoses (c.AD 8)

XII [SECOND PART] Want transformation. Oh, take inspiration from the flame, wherein something escapes from you, which flaunts its very burning; each architecting spirit which has mastered the mundane, loves in the swirl of symbol best of all the point of turning. What stays shut up inside itself, already is solidified; does it dream it's safe in the shelter of inconspicuous grays? Wait, from far away- the Hardest warns the hard and petrified. Alas - an absent hammer is upraised! He who pours out like a spring is realized by Realization; it leads him on in rapture through ebullient creation, that often ends with starting and with ending oft begins. Every happy space is child or grandchild of separation, through which they go amazed. And Daphne, after transformation, wants, since she feels laurel, that you turn yourself to wind. RMR, 1922