Butterfly Wisdom, poet unknown
Gutenberg.org has recently uploaded a book called Pages for Laughing Eyes by Unknown. In it are short yarns for children, some themed to the winter holidays, and quite a few poems, making it a good book to take out for bedtime stories.Two of the poems, "Butterfly Wisdom" and "When I Grow Up", are included below, along with the picture "A Busy Street".
A butterfly poised on a wild-rose spray,
As a child tripped by one summer day,
And he thought: "How sorrowful she must be
To know she can never have wings like me!"
But the child passed on, with a careless eye
Of the gay-winged, proud, young butterfly,
While he fluttered about, as butterflies will,
Sipping of honey and dew his fill.
The butterfly spread his wings to the sky,
As the sweet-faced child again tripped by,
And he thought: "How envious she will be
My beautiful azure wings to see!"
But the child passed, with a lightsome heart,
Where never had lodged a poisonous dart,
While he fluttered about, as butterflies will,
Sipping of honey and dew his fill.
When the child again passed the wild-rose sweet,
A bit of azure fell at her feet;
She lifted it from the moss, and said:--
"Poor little butterfly, it is dead!"
Then she tossed it up towards the wild-rose spray,
And, singing merrily, went her way,
With never a thought, the summer through,
Of the butterfly and its wings of blue.
"When I grow up my dress shall be
All made of silk and lace,
My hair I'll wear in some fine style
That best will suit my face;
With rings upon my fingers, too,
And bracelets on my arms,
I'll be the finest lady out,
With wondrous mighty charms.
"When I grow up, you understand,
I'll always dine at eight,
And go to dances and 'At homes,'
And sit up very late.
I'll never touch rice-puddings then,
But pastry eat, and cheese,
And always do just what I like
And go just where I please.
"When I grow up I'll have no nurse,
Nor yet a governess;
And lessons will not bother me
When I grow up, I guess.
I'll pay no heed to proper nouns,
Nor yet to mood nor tense"--
Here nurse put in: "When you grow up
Let's hope you'll have some sense!"
posted by Rus Bowden @ 10:56 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
a chinese poetry
-----------------------------
Seeing a Friend Off
Green mountains range beyond the northen wall.
White water rushes round the eastern town.
Right here is where, alone and restless, he
Begins a journey of a thousand miles.
While travelers' intents are fleeting clouds,
A friend's affection is a setting sun.
He waves good-bye, and as he goes from here,
His dappled horse lets out a lonely neigh.
By Li Bai Tr. Stephen Carlson
Hi Chris,
Love the poem, and an interesting meter to render Li Bai into, similar to the poem above.
I think the meter creates a distance, as does the third person--although I don't speak the language as you do, but here's another:
A Farewell to a Friend
With a blue line of mountains north of the wall,
And east of the city a white curve of water,
Here you must leave me and drift away
Like a loosened water-plant hundreds of miles....
I shall think of you in a floating cloud;
So in the sunset think of me.
...We wave our hands to say good-bye,
And my horse is neighing again and again.
Thanks very much.
Bud
Beautiful poems, I like how When I Grow Up captures that childish naivety and curiosity!
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