Insects

"Like a glowworm golden, in a dell of dew, Scattering unbeholden its aërial blue Among the flowers and grass which screen it from the view."

"The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire."

"When evening closes Nature's eye, The glow-worm lights her little spark To captivate her favorite fly And tempt the rover through the dark."

"Here's a health to the glow-worm, Death's sober lamplighter."

"Ye country comets, that portend No war nor princes' funeral Shining unto no other end Than to presage the grass's fall."

"Ye living lamps, by whose dear light The nightingale does sit so late; And studying all the summer night, Her matchless songs does meditate."

"While many a glowworm in the shade Lights up her love torch."

"Tasteful illumination of the night, Bright scattered, twinkling star of spangled earth."

"My star, God's glowworm."

"Till glowworms light owl-watchmen's flight Through our green metropolis."

"For, as you know, religions are like glow-worms; they shine only when it is dark."

"Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright, But look'd too near have neither heat nor light."

"Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer. Shine little glow-worm, glimmer, glimmer. Lead us lest too far we wander. Love's sweet voice is calling yonder."

"Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee, The shooting stars attend thee; And the elves also, Whose little eyes glow Like the sparks of fire, befriend thee."

"Baby bye Here's a fly, Let us watch him. you and I, How he crawls Up the walls Yet he never falls."

"Busy, curious, thirsty fly, Drink with me and drink as I! Freely welcome to my cup, Could'st thou sip and sip it up; Make the most of life you may; Life is short and wears away."

"A fly sat on the chariot wheel And said "what a dust I raise.""

"The Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt."

"I saw a flie within a beade Of amber cleanly buried."

"To a boiling pot flies come not."

"The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets."

"Haceos miel, y paparos han moscas."

"We see how flies, and spiders, and the like, get a sepulchre in amber, more durable than the monument and embalming of the body of any king."

"It was prettily devised of Æsop: The fly sat upon the axle-tree of the chariot-wheel, and said, What a dust do I raise!"

"We see spiders, flies, or ants entombed and preserved forever in amber, a more than royal tomb."

"Oh! that the memories, which survive us here, Were half so lovely as these wings of thine! Pure relics of a blameless life, that shine Now thou art gone."

"Flies enter an open mouth."

"King James said to the fly, "Have I three kingdoms, and thou must needs fly into my eye?""

"Everything was giant-sized, as if I were looking through binoculars. "I" was walking up giant stalks. At first I didn't know what they were or what I was, for that matter. The stalks were tall as redwood trees, and suddenly "I" realized that I was an insect of some kind. This was a grass blade. I thought I was a fly in a gigantic forest -- a giant fly, because everything was so large and super-real, and I;m used to thinking of flies as small. But I was an ordinary fly. I realized, and this was what the world looked like! Oddly enough, this made me feel better, I didn't care what I was; as long as I was something. So I felt myself go up the grass blade. It's impossible to verbalize the sensations I had, but I remember being aware of the weight of my wings. They seemed very sturdy and reassuring."

"God in His wisdom made the fly And then forgot to tell us why."

"He is an extraordinary animal is the house fly. Go where you will you find him, and so it must have been always. I have seen him enclosed in amber, which is, I was told, quite half a million years old, looking exactly like his descendant of to-day, and I have little doubt but that when the last man lies dying on the earth he will be buzzing round – if this event should happen to occur in summer – watching for an opportunity to settle on his nose."

"I am perfectly willing to share the room with a fly, as long as he is patrolling that portion of the room I don't occupy. But if he starts that smart-ass fly shit, buzzing my head and repeatedly landing on my arm, he is engaging in high-risk behavior."

"Some butterflies, notably the , and feed on and can be found on damaged areas of tree trunks. They are also attracted to the smell of dung and manure."

"He looked out sentimentally at his friends: the ethereal castanets of the butterflies."

"And many an ante-natal tomb Where butterflies dream of the life to come."

"The gold-barr'd butterflies to and fro And over the waterside wander'd and wove As heedless and idle as clouds that rove And drift by the peaks of perpetual snow."

"Far out at sea,—the sun was high, While veer'd the wind and flapped the sail, We saw a snow-white butterfly Dancing before the fitful gale, Far out at sea."

"With the rose the butterfly's deep in love, A thousand times hovering round; But round himself, all tender like gold, The sun's sweet ray is hovering found."

"Gray sail against the sky, Gray butterfly! Have you a dream for going Or are you only the blind wind's blowing?"

"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things."

"Diaphanous, roseate, Floating before us Butterflies … butterflies — Vibrations of the great Unknown."

"Butterflies … not quite birds as they were not quite flowers, mysterious and fascinating as are all indeterminate creatures."

"The butterfly's floating magnificence crosses Our lawn for a moment, then flutters beyond."

"Much converse do I find in thee, Historian of my infancy! Float near me; do not yet depart! Dead times revive in thee: Thou bring'st, gay creature as thou art! A solemn image to my heart."

"But these are flowers that fly and all but sing."

"I'd be a butterfly, born in a bower, Where roses and lilies and violets meet."

"And often, to our comfort, shall we find The sharded beetle in a safer hold Than is the full-winged eagle."

"An inordinate fondness for beetles."

"And the poor beetle that we tread upon, In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great As when a giant dies."

"O'er folded blooms On swirls of musk, The beetle booms adown the glooms And bumps along the dusk."