[net.poems] To a Butterfly, by William Wordsworth

wsh@hou5f.UUCP (Willie Heck) (08/15/83)

                                 TO A BUTTERFLY

                                       by

                               William Wordsworth
                                   (1770-1850)

I've watched you now a full half hour,
Self-poised upon that yellow flower;
And, little butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless!--not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

This plot of orchard-ground is ours;
My trees they are, my sister's flowers;
Here rest your wings when they are weary;
Here lodge as in a sanctuary!
Come often to us, fear no wrong;
Sit near us on the bough!
We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
And summer days, when we were young;
Sweet childish days, that were as long
As twenty days are now.