CONTENTS.

THE truce does not last long-a civil war ensues-a Queen leads the forces on each side-Description of the battleThe Queen killed-dejection and grief of her army-peace is made-The elders often foresee impending danger-to prevent a war, they destroy the elder Princess-The Bees, notwithstanding their knowledge of the weather, are often caught in sudden storms, and great numbers perish-The owner of the hive sees the necessity of more ample room, and by enlarging the place, hinders the swarms from sallying forth-The hive, attacked by wild Bees from caves and forests, suffers terrible depredation-When the young Queen is destroyed, the swarms, having lost their leader, never venture to fly abroad—The lazy disposition and luxury of the Drones-In the autumn they are destroyed, or driven away, that they may not devour the stores laid up for winter-The Drones revive in the spring-warmed by the sun, they burst their shells which lay chilled during the winter-they crawl forth, but the animosity of the working Bees still continues, and numbers of the Drones are instantly destroyed-the rest are reserved as the lovers of the Queen-Of all the animals that cohabit with man, none but the Bees know how to provide food for themselves-When the swarms go forth, man should provide hives for themIn the winter the Bees claim every kind of assistance, and in return they give the best example of peace and good order-war and destruction the delight of man.

THE BEES.

CANTO III.

BUT the belligʼrent powers no truce can quell, In the same camp like rival states they dwell, Intestine feuds the public mind alarm,`

And the fierce citizens for tumult arm.

Pent in their hive they scorn a war to wage,
But, at the signal given, with martial rage
Rush to the fields of air, and there display
Their proud battalions, panting for the fray.
To form their ranks both sides impatient fly,
Resolv'd to conquer, or with glory die.
A Queen on either side the troops inspires
With generous ardour, and each bosom fires.
The body-guard, a brave, a faithful band,
Round the Queen-Mother close embodied stand,
Nor from that station are they known to yield,
Till call'd to turn the fortune of the field.

The young, whom high fermenting spirits guide,
Inflame their partizans with martial pride.

With rage impetuous they begin the fight;

Bees rush on Bees, and friends 'gainst friends unite ;
Beak points at beak, stings threaten adverse stings,
Claws clash with claws, wings glitter against wings;
'Tis more than civil war; in hostile rows
Two kindred armies meet like mortal foes.
Havoc and uproar rend th' etherial plain,
"And the gor'd battle bleeds in every vein.”
O'er all the ranks wild rage and terror bound;
They fight, they drop, their bodies strew the ground.
Not quicker falls in heaps the driven snow,

From frozen caves when northern tempests blow.
Bellona stalks in blood; the fiery soul,

While the Queen lives, no danger can controul.
Who takes her life, a phalanx first must slay,
And sail in blood along th' ethereal way,

So firm her guards: to fate if(1) she resigns,
In her the pillar of the state declines.

Her army sees her fall; no more they ply
Their drooping wings; tears gush from every eye,
A pause ensues; no sound, no fierce alarms
Ring through the air; they rest upon their arms;
No more by valour seek renown to gain;

Their love of glory dies, their sovereign slain.
Farewell the pomp of war; oppress'd with woe,
In long procession, melancholy, slow,"

Homeward they bend; there heave a hollow moan,
And view disconsolate the vacant throne.

Unlike those victors fierce with rage and pride,
They now relent, and spare the vanquish'd side.
The parties meet, embrace, are foes no more,
And all the thunder of the war is o'er.
Of their dissentions they forget the cause,
And calm enjoy their country and their laws.

Oft times the wiser few, ere yet too late,
Foresee the dire convulsions of the state;
And when Sedition talks of a reform,

t

Of treason they foresee a gathering storm.

Still the Queen Mother's laws her house restrain, But the young Princess plans a separate reign. From her ambition to protect the land,

The veterans collect a faithful band.

Her they invest; they strike the patriot blow,
And send their victim (2) to the shades below.
As when the Turk beholds with jealous eyes
A rival brother near the throne arise;

The Janizaries join to guard the state,

And by one death ward off their country's fate;
Or else the Mutes, who round the Sultan stood,
Combine, and strangle for the public good.

But if the rising generation thrive

With large increase, and overflow the hive,
The elders to the young assistance grant,

And urge their Queen new colonies to plant.

But still, by patriot cares forever led,
A want of hands if they begin to dread,
The Virgin Princess they condemn to die ;
None then expatriate; none attempt to fly.
The subtle Bees, if we opine aright,
Illumin'd from above with heavenly light,
By sure prognostics from the azure plain,
Have clear intelligence of storms and rain ;
And yet, though warn'd, oft times with wild surprise
See in the atmosphere fierce storms arise.
Then happy they, with hospitable leaves
Whom a tree shelters, or a cave receives;
Dash'd down on earth the rest afflicted lie,
O'erwhelm'd by floods, and in the deluge die.
Their loss th' industrious nation soon repairs,
And oft the owner of the hive prepares

More ample space, where they may live in peace,
And by that art bids civil discord cease.

Their hive enlarg'd the Bees with wonder view,
And domes and cells to build their toil renew.

Capacious mansions overjoy'd they find,
With ware-rooms for their stores of every kind.

The realm of Bees, like every other state,
Invasions unprovok'd, and big with fate,

2

Must oft encounter: from woods wild and drear

A daring race, ferocious, void of fear,

Invest the region of mild peace and joy,

And rob, lay waste, and plunder, and destroy.