ONCE as I went by rail to Epping Street, Both windows being open, a wasp flew in; Through the compartment swung and almost out Scarce seen, scarce heard; but dead against the pane Entitled " Smoking," did the train's career Arrest her passage. Such a wonderful Impervious transparency, before That palpitating moment, had never yet Her airy voyage thwarted. Undismayed, With diligence incomparable, she sought An exit, till the letters like a snare Entangled her; or else the frosted glass And signature indelible appeared The key to all the mystery: there she groped, And flirted petulant wings, and fiercely sang A counter-spell against the sorcery, The sheer enchantment that inhibited Her access to the world-her birthright there! So visible, and so beyond her reach! Baffled and raging like a tragic queen, She left at last the stencilled tablet; roamed The pane a while to cool her regal ire, Then tentatively touched the window-frame: Sure footing still, though rougher than the glass; Dissimilar in texture, and so obscure! Perplexed now by opacity with foot and wing She coasted up and down the wood and worked Her wrath to passion-point again. Then from the frame She slipped by chance into the open space Left by the lowered sash: -the world once more In sight! She paused; she closed her wings, and felt The air with learned antennae for the smooth Resistance that she knew now must belong To such mysterious transparences. No foothold? Down she fell-six inches down! Hovered a second, dazed and dubious still Then soared away a captive queen set free. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LINES ON HEARING THE ORGAN by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING by ROBERT FROST CEDARS OF LEBANON AT WARWICK CASTLE by MATHILDE BLIND ON THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER, EMPEROR OF THE RUSSIAS by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |