Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Complete Poems. 1924.
Part Two: NatureLXV
L
I hear the level bee:
A jar across the flowers goes,
Their velvet masonry
Their chivalry consumes,
While he, victorious, tilts away
To vanquish other blooms.
His helmet is of gold;
His breast, a single onyx
With chrysoprase, inlaid.
His idleness a tune;
Oh, for a bee’s experience
Of clovers and of noon!