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Insects-Bee: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
Bee. The honey-bee that wanders all day long The field, the woodland, and the garden o'er, To gather in his fragrant winter store, Humming in calm content his winter song, Seeks not alone the rose's glowing breast, The lily's dainty cup, the violet's lips, But from all rank and noxious weeds he sips The single drop of sweetness closely pressed Within the poison chalice.— ANNE C. LYNCH BOTTA — The Lesson of
the Bee. His labor is a chant, His idleness a tune; Oh, for a bee's experience Of clovers and of noon!— EMILY DICKINSON — Poems. XV.
The Bee. The pedigree of honey Does not concern the bee; A clover, any time, to him Is aristocracy.— EMILY DICKINSON — Poems. V.
(Ed. 1891). Burly, dozing humblebee, Where thou art is clime for me. Let them sail for Porto Rique, Far-off heats through seas to seek. I will follow thee alone, Thou animated torrid-zone!— EMERSON — The Humble-Bee.
Seeing only what is fair, Sipping only what is sweet, * * * * * * Leave the chaff, and take the wheat.— EMERSON — The Humble-Bee.
The careful insect 'midst his works I view, Now from the flowers exhaust the fragrant dew, With golden treasures load his little thighs, And steer his distant journey through the skies.— GAY — Rural Sports. Canto I. L. 82.
Bees work for man, and yet they never bruise Their Master's flower, but leave it having done, As fair as ever and as fit to use; So both the flower doth stay and honey run.— S. HERBERT — The Church. Providence.
"O bees, sweet bees!" I said; "that nearest field Is shining white with fragrant immortelles. Fly swiftly there and drain those honey wells."— HELEN HUNT — My Bees.
Listen! O, listen! Here ever hum the golden bees Underneath full-blossomed trees, At once with glowing fruit and flowers crowned.— LOWELL — The Sirens. L. 94.
The bee is enclosed, and shines preserved, in a tear of the sisters of Phaëton, so that it seems enshrined in its own nectar. It has obtained a worthy reward for its great toils; we may suppose that the bee itself would have desired such a death.— MARTIAL — Epigrams. Bk. IV.
Ep. 32. For so work the honey-bees, Creatures that by a rule in nature teach The act of order to a peopled kingdom. They have a king and officers of sorts, Where some, like magistrates, correct at home, Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad, Others like soldiers, armed in their stings, Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds, Which pillage they with merry march bring home.— Shakespeare — Henry V. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 188.
My banks they are furnish'd with bees, Whose murmur invites one to sleep.— SHENSTONE — A Pastoral Ballad. Pt. II. Hope.
The solitary Bee Whose buzzing was the only sound of life, Flew there on restless wing, Seeking in vain one blossom where to fix.— SOUTHEY — Thalaba. Bk. VI. St. 13.
The little bee returns with evening's gloom, To join her comrades in the braided hive, Where, housed beside their mighty honeycomb, They dream their polity shall long survive. CHARLES (TENNYSON) TURNER-A Summer Night in the Bee Hive. How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day From every opening flower.— WATTS — Song. 20.
The wild Bee reels from bough to bough With his furry coat and his gauzy wing, Now in a lily cup, and now Setting a jacinth bell a-swing, In his wandering.— OSCAR WILDE — Her Voice.
Beetle. O'er folded blooms On swirls of musk, The beetle booms adown the glooms And bumps along the dusk.— JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY — The Beetle.
And often, to our comfort, shall we find The sharded beetle in a safer hold Than is the full-winged eagle.— Shakespeare — Cymbeline. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 19.