The study identifies metamorphosis as a form of poetic contemplation in which literary imagination divides the flow of time into graphic timepoints. Whereas the concept of ongoing metamorphosis is most frequently encountered in nature philosophy, complex metamorphosis narratives notably reflect upon and criticize the concept of discrete metamorphosis which plays a significant role in mythology and religion. The systematic reconstruction of a poetics of epic metamorphoses is followed by interpretations of Ovid's »Metamorphoses« and relevant 20th century narratives by Kafka, Carl Einstein, Christoph Ransmayr and Steffen Mensching.