Insects In Summer

Waked by his warmer ray, the reptile young

Came wing'd abroad; by the light air upborne

Lighter, and full of soul. From every chink

And secret corner, where they slept away

The wintry storms; or rising from their tombs

To higher life; by myriads, forth at once,

Swarming they pour; of all the varied hues

Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose.

Ten thousand forms! ten thousand different tribes!

People the blaze. To sunny waters some

By fatal instinct fly; where on the pool

They sportive wheel, or sailing down the stream,

Are snatch'd immediate, by the quick-eyed trout,

Or darting salmon. Through the greenwood glade

Some love to stray; there lodged, amused, and fed,

In the fresh leaf. Luxurious, others make

The meads their choice, and visit every flower,

And every latent herb; and where to wrap,

In what soft beds, their young yet undisclosed,

Employs their tender care. Some to the house,

The fold, the dairy, hungry, bend their flight;

Sip round the pail, or taste the curdling cheese;

Oft, inadvertent, from the milky stream,

They meet their fate; or, weltering in the bowl,

With powerless wings around them wrapt, expire.