Malicious insect, little vengeful bee, With venom-sting thou'rt whirling round and round A harmless head that ne'er meant wrong to thee, And friendship's hand it is thou'dst wish to wound: Cool thy revenge, and judge thy foes aright; The hardened neatherd and the sweet-toothed boy -- Thy moss-wrapped treasures, if but in their sight, Soon would they all thy honeyed lives destroy: But delve the cowslip-peep in labor free, And dread no pilferer of thy hoards in me. -- Thus man to man oft takes a friend for foe, And spurns a blessing when it's in his power, Mistakes real happiness for worldly woe, Crops sorrow's weed, and treads on pleasure's flower. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...YOUNG LINCOLN by EDWIN MARKHAM DOROTHY DANCES by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THE SAND-MAN by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR SONNET: 146 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE SATIRE: 6 by AULUS PERSIUS FLACCUS THE BURIAL-MARCH OF THE DUNDEE by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN |