Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Bee
The honey-bee that wanders all day long The field, the woodland, and the garden oer, To gather in his fragrant winter store, Humming in calm content his winter song, Seeks not alone the roses glowing breast, The lilys dainty cup, the violets lips, But from all rank and noxious weeds he sips The single drop of sweetness closely pressed Within the poison chalice. Anne C. Lynch BottaThe Lesson of the Bee.
Burly, dozing bumblebee, Where thou art is clime for me. Let them sail for Porto Rique, Far-off heats through seas to seek. I will follow thee alone, Thou animated torrid-zone! EmersonThe Humble-Bee.
The careful insect midst his works I view, Now from the flowers exhaust the fragrant dew, With golden treasures load his little thighs, And steer his distant journey through the skies. GayRural Sports. Canto I. L. 82.
Bees work for man, and yet they never bruise Their Masters flower, but leave it having done, As fair as ever and as fit to use; So both the flower doth stay and honey run. HerbertThe Church. Providence.
O bees, sweet bees! I said; that nearest field Is shining white with fragrant immortelles. Fly swiftly there and drain those honey wells. Helen Hunt JacksonMy Bees.
Listen! O, listen! Here ever hum the golden bees Underneath full-blossomed trees, At once with glowing fruit and flowers crowned. LowellThe Sirens. L. 94.
The bee is enclosed, and shines preserved, in a tear of the sisters of Phaëton, so that it seems enshrined in its own nectar. It has obtained a worthy reward for its great toils; we may suppose that the bee itself would have desired such a death. MartialEpigrams. Bk. IV. Ep. 32.
For so work the honey-bees, Creatures that by a rule in nature teach The act of order to a peopled kingdom. They have a king and officers of sorts, Where some, like magistrates, correct at home, Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad, Others like soldiers, armed in their stings, Make boot upon the summers velvet buds, Which pillage they with merry march bring home. Henry V. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 188.
The solitary Bee Whose buzzing was the only sound of life, Flew there on restless wing, Seeking in vain one blossom where to fix. SoutheyThalaba. Bk. VI. St. 13.
The little bee returns with evenings gloom, To join her comrades in the braided hive, Where, housed beside their mighty honey-comb, They dream their polity shall long survive. Charles Tennyson TurnerA Summer Night in the Bee Hive.
The wild Bee reels from bough to bough With his furry coat and his gauzy wing, Now in a lily cup, and now Setting a jacinth bell a-swing, In his wandering. Oscar WildeHer Voice.