@2B@1UTTERFLY, butterfly, Flutter by, Over and under and over, Flitting from lily to clover, Restless, unsatisfied rover! What is it thou dost hunger after That is not now, yet is eternally to be— Sunshine and the warm sun-laughter Touching into glory the waving wings of thee? Frail insect, mad-possessed Of quenchless, fruitless quest, Patiently brooding the loneliest leaf, Searching the silentest flower, Placing the hills and the meadows in fief, Scorning no spot of the arid or arable, Questing for aye in thy life of an hour,— Butterfly, butterfly, Utter thy parable! Tireless discoverer, Voyager vagrant, Hopefullest hoverer, Lured by the fragrant; Ruthless deserter of grapes and camellias, Yearning to, turning from, countless Ophelias,— Urged on by the vision Of wonder supernal, To autumn's decision Referring the vernal; All to see, @3all@1 to see: Of the Past the history, Of the Last the mystery; For brief engrossing moments joying in the real, Yet swift again to know the sting of the ideal; Wary of Nature's benison, (In the inmost heart of thee the pang, the sting!) Of this demesne no denizen, No captive, but an age-appointed Thing! Butterfly, can nothing win thee into rest,- No petal here or yonder? ... Nay, flutter by, contentless, as is best,— While with thee I wander! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A VOYAGE TO CYTHERA by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE HALLOWED GROUND by THOMAS CAMPBELL THE THREE KINGS by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ODE TO THE MAGUIRE by EOCHADH O'HUSSEY TO A GIPSY CHILD BY THE SEA-SHORE by MATTHEW ARNOLD |