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The Bee and the Butterfly ------------
O Bee, gold-barred with the light of noon Or the flash of the tempest-murk, Tell me, hast thou seen in thy wanderings far A Lily,29 far fairer than thy lilies are Whose nectar thou winnest at work? Tell me, hast thou seen her by brake or by bower, – My Lily, my beautiful flower.
O Butterfly, set with sapphire wings And dashed with the moonlight’s ray, Tell me, hast thou seen in thy flutterings far A Lily, far sweeter than thy lilies are Whose nectar thou winnest at play? Tell me, hast thou seen her in sunshine or shower, – My Lily my beautiful flower.
But the Bee and the Butterfly pass; They heed not the words that I say: They are fickle, and flutter from bloom to bloom: – I am constant: my heart has only room For one Lily in work or in play; Her only I look for by tarn and by tower, My lily, my beautiful flower. July 13
29 Alexander married Lily Redfern in 1891.