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98
THE FIRE-FLIES.
When the damp and shadowy eve
Drops her veil on bower and green,
We our secret coverts leave,
Sparkling out in all our sheen!
We, the fire-flies, speed us through
Silence, darkness, air, and dew;
With a lamp at either wing,
Where we list its light to fling.
Drops her veil on bower and green,
We our secret coverts leave,
Sparkling out in all our sheen!
We, the fire-flies, speed us through
Silence, darkness, air, and dew;
With a lamp at either wing,
Where we list its light to fling.
Plants, that, when the sun was high,
Screened us from his blazing powers,
We in turn with light supply,—
Little meteoric showers!
On the tendrils, buds, and stems,
We shine forth, their living gems;
Never set, and never cold,
Like the heavy stone and gold.
Screened us from his blazing powers,
We in turn with light supply,—
Little meteoric showers!
On the tendrils, buds, and stems,
We shine forth, their living gems;
Never set, and never cold,
Like the heavy stone and gold.
Round the violet's pensive eye
Do our glowing winglets play;
While the tear we may not dry
Softly we can brush away.
We illume the purple bell,
Rosy cup, and snow-white cell;
Countless leaves and grassy blades
Make we brighter for the shades!
Do our glowing winglets play;
While the tear we may not dry
Softly we can brush away.
We illume the purple bell,
Rosy cup, and snow-white cell;
Countless leaves and grassy blades
Make we brighter for the shades!
99
But we crown our darling flower,
In the Honeysuckle-bloom,
Sweetest in the darkest hour,—
Breathing spice through deepest gloom!
And, if understood by us,
Human speech, it whispered thus:—
“So from one true heart will flow
Balm, when thousands shun our woe!”
In the Honeysuckle-bloom,
Sweetest in the darkest hour,—
Breathing spice through deepest gloom!
And, if understood by us,
Human speech, it whispered thus:—
“So from one true heart will flow
Balm, when thousands shun our woe!”
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