Ode to a Butterfly
THOU spark of life that wavest wings of gold,
Thou songless wanderer mid the songful birds,
With Nature's secrets in thy tints unrolled
Through gorgeous cipher, past the reach of words,
Yet dear to every child
In glad pursuit beguiled,
Living his unspoiled days mid flowers and flocks and herds!
Thou winged blossom, liberated thing,
What secret tie binds thee to other flowers,
Still held within the garden's fostering?
Will they too soar with the completed hours,
Take flight, and be like thee
Irrevocably free,
Hovering at will o'er their parental bowers?
Or is thy lustre drawn from heavenly hues,--
A sumptuous drifting fragment of the sky,
Caught when the sunset its last glance imbues
With sudden splendor, and the tree-tops high
Grasp that swift blazonry,
Then lend those tints to thee,
On thee to float a few short hours, and die?
Birds have their nests; they rear their eager young,
And flit on errands all the livelong day;
Each fieldmouse keeps the homestead whence it sprung;
Burt thou art Nature's freeman,--free to stray
Unfettered through the wood,
Seeking thine airy food,
The sweetness spiced on every blossomed spray.
The garden one wide banquet spreads for thee,
O daintiest reveller of the joyous earth!
One drop of honey gives satiety;
A second draught would drug thee past all mirth.
Thy feast no orgy shows;
Thy calm eyes never close,
Thou soberest sprite to which the sun gives birth.
And yet the soul of man upon thy wings
Forever soars in aspiration; thou
His emblem of the new career that springs
When death's arrest bids all his spirit bow.
He seeks his hope in thee
Of immortality.
Symbol of life, me with such faith endow!
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
THOU spark of life that wavest wings of gold,
Thou songless wanderer mid the songful birds,
With Nature's secrets in thy tints unrolled
Through gorgeous cipher, past the reach of words,
Yet dear to every child
In glad pursuit beguiled,
Living his unspoiled days mid flowers and flocks and herds!
Thou winged blossom, liberated thing,
What secret tie binds thee to other flowers,
Still held within the garden's fostering?
Will they too soar with the completed hours,
Take flight, and be like thee
Irrevocably free,
Hovering at will o'er their parental bowers?
Or is thy lustre drawn from heavenly hues,--
A sumptuous drifting fragment of the sky,
Caught when the sunset its last glance imbues
With sudden splendor, and the tree-tops high
Grasp that swift blazonry,
Then lend those tints to thee,
On thee to float a few short hours, and die?
Birds have their nests; they rear their eager young,
And flit on errands all the livelong day;
Each fieldmouse keeps the homestead whence it sprung;
Burt thou art Nature's freeman,--free to stray
Unfettered through the wood,
Seeking thine airy food,
The sweetness spiced on every blossomed spray.
The garden one wide banquet spreads for thee,
O daintiest reveller of the joyous earth!
One drop of honey gives satiety;
A second draught would drug thee past all mirth.
Thy feast no orgy shows;
Thy calm eyes never close,
Thou soberest sprite to which the sun gives birth.
And yet the soul of man upon thy wings
Forever soars in aspiration; thou
His emblem of the new career that springs
When death's arrest bids all his spirit bow.
He seeks his hope in thee
Of immortality.
Symbol of life, me with such faith endow!
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
I miss you dearly, Sweet BB.
11 comments:
I heard her hospital admin took exception to her blogging. :( I really miss her blog.
--lexi
It's not fun to have your work notice your blog.
Lovely tribute. Sad situation, it seems.
I just wanted to say that I like your blog's name...it made me smile. :-D (I used to work in the ER myself...:))
I miss her too.
BB, if you're reading this, know that your blog was greatly appreciated while it lasted.
I also miss Barbados Butterfly and just discovered why she's stopped posting. Turns out the new hospital where she works took offence at her blog content and she was suspended for a week. This was apparently reported in a local newspaper but the link didn't work when I clicked it.
Looks like Barb's new job not only made her unhappy, she's bumped into some senior doctors (undoubtedlty surgeons) and/or administrators who have never heard of free speech. She should take her problems to her local society (I'm sure registrars have the equivalent of our Interns and Residents Associations which negotiate contracts, housing arrangements, issues like harassment, etc.)for legal advice and get the suspension lifted and expunged from her record. If it stays on her record it will dog her for to the end of the days. Maybe she should visit Semmelweis Society's website too.
we miss you BB!
A lovely tribute.
I doubt BB had trouble with her senior surgeons or had the suspension go down on her record. That it was reported to the press, though, speaks volumes.
Some Australians have a tendency to cut down tall poppies. And BB was certainly one of those. Hopefully she can stay strong. She always seemed philosophical about the hardships she encountered. I miss her, too - but I doubt we've heard the last from the spirited BB.
That was a beautiful tribute.
I'm keeping the link up even though it doesn't go anywhere, just as a protest to this unjust event.
She helped me see the world through the eyes of a surgeon, and deepened my understanding.
In fact, I'll put that on my blog right now.....
Very chilling, I sometimes wonder if my blog will come back to get me one. There I times i try to hold onto particularly significant events for months for fear of being found out. It's just one more way to silence us.
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