Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FLY'S LECTURE by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: ONCE ON A TIME, WHEN, TEMPTED TO REPINE
Last Line: AND SERVED WITH LIGHT BY TWO METALLIC EYES.
Subject(s): FLIES;
Once on a time, when, tempted to repine,
In yon green nook I nursed a sullen theme,
A fly lit near me, lovelier than a dream,
With burnished plates of sight, and pennons fine:
His wondrous beauty struck and fixt my view,
As, ere he mingled with the shades of eve,
With silent feet he trod the honeydew,
In that lone spot, where I had come to grieve:
And still, whene'er the hour of sorrow brings,
Once more, the humours and the doubts of grief,
In my mind's eye, from that moist forest-leaf
Once more I see the glorious insect rise!
My faith is lifted on two gauzy wings,
And served with light by two metallic eyes.



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