Bee from the flowers
Bee, whom all flowers make welcome to their sweet,
Why an adventurer here, with clinging feet
Bless air’s gift of sweetness, honey
from the bees, inspired by clover,
marigold, eucalyptus, thyme,
the hundred perfumes of the wind.
Bless the beekeeper
who chooses for her hives
a site near water, violet beds, no yew,
no echo. Let the light lilt, leak, green
Like trains of cars on tracks of plush
I hear the level bee:
A jar across the flowers goes,
Their velvet masonry
Withstands until the sweet assault
Their chivalry consumes,
While he, victorious, tilts away
To vanquish other blooms.
His feet are shod with gauze,
His helmet is of gold;
His breast, [...]
Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
From Odin himself we take a look at what he has to say about Mead drinking and how to behave when you have drunk it. This is probably one piece of advice the Vikings forgot about when out on a raid.
From Havamal, the Words of Odin, the High One
Less good than [...]
My son, eat honey, for it is good;
The droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:
So you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; when you have found it,
Then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.
A bee hexagon by Piero della Francesca
Piero [...]
Our poem of the month is yet another masterpiece by Emily Dickinson
‘Purple Clover’
There is a flower that bees prefer,
And butterflies desire;
To gain the purple democrat
The humming-birds aspire.
And whatsoever insect pass,
A honey bears away
Proportioned to his several dearth
[...]
And then pell-mell his harvest follows swift
Blossom and Borage, lime and balm and clover
On downs the thyme, on cliffs the scantling thrift
Everywhere the bees go racing with the hours
For every bee becomes a drunken lover
Standing upon his head to sup the flowers
[...]
Yet again the poem is by that 19th century American genius of poets, Emily Dickinson.
PURPLE CLOVER
There is a flower that bees prefer,
And butterflies desire;
To gain the purple democrat
The humming-birds aspire.
And whatsoever insect pass,
A honey bears away
Proportioned to his several dearth
Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932–February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and they lived together first in the United States [...]
As you may have noticed from previous issues of ApisUK I am a great fan of this true genius of an American poet. Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Born in Massachusetts to a successful family with strong community ties, [...]
