Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE HUMBLE BEE, by CATHERINE ANNE DORSET


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HUMBLE BEE, by                    
First Line: Good morrow, gentle humble bee
Last Line: To bliss again!
Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, Catherine Anne
Subject(s): Bees; Insects; Beekeeping; Bugs


Good morrow, gentle humble bee,
You are abroad betimes, I see,
And sportive fly from tree to tree,
To take the air;

And visit each gay flower that blows;
While every bell and bud that glows,
Quite from the daisy to the rose,
Your visits share.

Saluting now the pied carnation,
Now on the aster taking station,
Murmuring your ardent admiration;
Then off you frisk,

Where poppies hang their heavy heads,
Or where the gorgeous sun-flower spreads
For you her luscious golden beds,
On her broad disk.

To live on pleasure's painted wing,
To feed on all the sweets of Spring,
Must be a mighty pleasant thing,
If it would last.

But you, no doubt, have wisely thought,
These joys may be too dearly bought,
And will not unprepar'd be caught
When Summer's past.

For soon will fly the laughing hours,
And this delightful waste of flowers
Will shrink before the wintry showers
And winds so keen.

Alas! who then will lend you aid,
If your dry cell be yet unmade,
Nor store of wax and honey laid
In magazine?

Then, Lady Buzz, you will repent,
That hours for useful labour meant
Were so unprofitably spent,
And idly lost.

By cold and hunger keen oppress'd,
Say, will your yellow velvet vest,
Or the fur tippet on your breast,
Shield you from frost?

Ah! haste your winter stock to save,
That snug within your Christmas cave,
When snows fall fast and tempests rave,
You may remain.

And the hard season braving there,
On Spring's warm gales you will repair,
Elate thro' crystal fields of air,
To bliss again!





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