Once on a time, when, tempted to repine, In yon green nook I nursed a sullen theme, A fly lit near me, lovelier than a dream, With burnished plates of sight, and pennons fine: His wondrous beauty struck and fixt my view, As, ere he mingled with the shades of eve, With silent feet he trod the honeydew, In that lone spot, where I had come to grieve: And still, whene'er the hour of sorrow brings, Once more, the humours and the doubts of grief, In my mind's eye, from that moist forest-leaf Once more I see the glorious insect rise! My faith is lifted on two gauzy wings, And served with light by two metallic eyes. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ALMS by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY A CHILD'S SONG OF CHRISTMAS by MARJORIE LOWRY CHRISTIE PICKTHALL LETTER TO B.W. PROCTOR, ESQ., FROM OXFORD; MAY, 1825 by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES FUTILITY by CHARLOTTE BLAISING THE PEACE OF COLLEGE by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE DANTE AND ARIOSTO by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN A RHAPSODY OF LIFE'S PROGRESS by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING UPON MY LORD CHIEF JUSTICE HIS ELECTION OF MY LADY ANNE WENTWORTH FOR HIS MISTRESS by THOMAS CAREW |