Do not tie my wings, <br />Says the honey-bee; <br />Do not bind my wings, <br />Leave them glad and free. <br />If I fly abroad, <br />If I keep afar, <br />Humming all the day, <br />Where wild blossoms are, <br />'Tis to bring you sweets, <br />Rich as summer joy, <br />Clear--as gold and glass; <br />The divinest toy <br />That the god's have left, <br />Is the pretty hive, <br />Where a maiden reigns, <br />And the busy thrive. <br /> <br />If you bar my way, <br />Your delight is gone, <br />No more honey-gems; <br />From the heather borne; <br />No more tiny thefts, <br />From your neighbor's rose, <br />Who were glad to guess <br />Where its sweetness goes. <br /> <br />Let the man of arts <br />Ply his plane and glass; <br />Let the vapors rise, <br />Let the liquor pass; <br />Let the dusky slave <br />Till the southern fields; <br />Not the task of both <br />Such a treasure yields; <br />Honey, Pan ordained, <br />Food for gods and men, <br />Only in my way <br />Shall you store again. <br /> <br />Leave me to my will <br />While the bright days glow, <br />While the sleepy flowers <br />Quicken as I go. <br />When the pretty ones <br />Look to me no more, <br />Dead, beneath your feet, <br />Crushed and dabbled o'er; <br />In my narrow cell <br />I will fold my wing; <br />Sink in dark and chill, <br />A forgotten thing. <br /> <br />Can you read the song <br />Of the suppliant bee? <br />'Tis a poet's soul, <br />Asking liberty.<br /><br />Julia Ward Howe<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-bee-s-song/
