Page:Prometheus Bound, and other poems.djvu/111

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WISDOM UNAPPLIED.




I.

IF I were thou, O butterfly,
And poised my purple wings, to spy
The sweetest flowers that live and die,—


II.

I would not waste my strength on those,
As thou,—for summer hath a close,
And pansies bloom not in the snows.


III.

If I were thou, O working bee,
And all that honey-gold I see
Could delve from roses easily;


IV.

I would not hive it at man's door,
As thou,—that heirdom of my store
Should make him rich, and leave me poor.