Felicia Hemans in The Literary Gazette 1823/To a Butterfly Resting on a Skull

by Felicia Hemans

For other versions of this work, see To a Butterfly Resting on a Skull.

The Literary Gazette, 14th June 1823

TO A BUTTERFLY RESTING ON A SKULL.

    Creature of air and light,
Emblem of that which may not fade or die!*^[1]
    Wilt thou not speed thy flight
To chase the south-wind through the sunny sky?
    What lures thee thus to stay
    With Silence and Decay,
Fix'd on the wreck of dull Mortality?

    The thoughts once chamber'd there
Have gather'd up their treasures, and are gone!
    —Will the dust tell us where
They that have burst the prison-house are flown?
    Rise, nurseling of the Day,
    If thou wouldst trace their way!
Earth has no voice to make the secret known!

    Who seeks the vanish'd bird,
By the forsaken nest and broken shell?
    Far thence he sings unheard,
Yet free and joyous midst the woods to dwell!
    —Thou, of the sunshine born,
    Take the bright wings of morn!
Thy hope calls heavenward from yon ruin'd cell!
⁠H.

1. * In allusion to the signification of the Butterfly on antique gems and vases.