 | Lyrics (1895) |  |
77
APIS MATINA
O orange-banded bee,
Impetuously humming,
You bring sweet news to me
Of summer coming!
Impetuously humming,
You bring sweet news to me
Of summer coming!
Here in my garden-house,
Beside a lilac border,
I, like some prisoned mouse,
In sick disorder,
Beside a lilac border,
I, like some prisoned mouse,
In sick disorder,
Bewail the darkened skies,
Pray that the flowers smell sweeter,
Wish all things otherwise,
Slower or fleeter!
Pray that the flowers smell sweeter,
Wish all things otherwise,
Slower or fleeter!
78
You enter with a hum
Of warlike trumpets blowing,
You lead the months that come
And chase them going;
Of warlike trumpets blowing,
You lead the months that come
And chase them going;
The trembling spider stares
Deep in his secret funnel,
Glad if your rude wing spares
His gauzy tunnel.
Deep in his secret funnel,
Glad if your rude wing spares
His gauzy tunnel.
Softly, more softly, friend!
Why such a furious pother?
Let speed and leisure blend,
Not slay each other!
Why such a furious pother?
Let speed and leisure blend,
Not slay each other!
So swift your clear wing beats,
With hum melodious noising,
A floating aureole fleets
Around you poising!
With hum melodious noising,
A floating aureole fleets
Around you poising!
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And where you hang in air,
The dust, the small things under,
Whisk swiftly here and there
In your soft thunder.
The dust, the small things under,
Whisk swiftly here and there
In your soft thunder.
O furred and banded bee,
So busy, so decorous,
Would that my melody
Were as sonorous!
So busy, so decorous,
Would that my melody
Were as sonorous!
Would that my days were spent
In making sweet provision!
Would that I came and went
With like decision!
In making sweet provision!
Would that I came and went
With like decision!
Old minstrel, ere you go,
To cheer the cheerless weather,
Come, let us softly blow
One stave together!
To cheer the cheerless weather,
Come, let us softly blow
One stave together!
| Lyrics (1895) | |