162 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 24, NO. 7-8, OCT.-NOV., 1922 



"Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, 

 And all the air a solemn stillness holds, 

 Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, 

 And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds." 



Elegy. 



Third, for the purpose of impressing the reader with a sense 

 of the supernatural or weird, and in this effort Thomas Hood has 

 succeeded most admirably in the "Haunted House": 



"The air was thick, and in the upper gloom 

 The bat or something in its shape was winging; 

 And on the wall, as chilly as a tomb 

 The death's-head moth was clinging." 



Fourth, in distinguishing the insect's behaviour as a subject 

 for philosophic comment or pointing a moral; the following is 

 from Cowper: 



"Dreams, empty dreams. The millions flit as gay 

 As if created only like a fly, 



That spreads its motley wings in th' edge of noon, 

 To sport their season and be seen no more. " 



The Task. 



Fifth, in humorous verse as a means of accentuating the jest. 

 In this relation Thomas Hood has given us many most amusing 

 examples, as in "Hymeneal Retrospections": 



"Your mouth, it was then quite a bait for the bees, 

 Such nectar there hung on each lip; 

 Though now it has taken the lemon-like squeeze, 

 Not a blue-bottle comes for a sip!" 



There are of course countless variations of such poetical uses, 

 but those mentioned above seem the commoner. 



Introduction to Discussion of Authors. 



Having arranged chronologically the entomological excerpts 

 from the poets so as to enable us to gaze across the five centuries 

 that have elapsed since Chaucer, we find here and there among 

 these men, one who stands head and shoulders above his con- 

 temporaries in appreciation of insect life. The most conspicu- 

 ous of these are: Shakespeare, Phillips, Gay, Thomson, Cowper, 

 Rogers, Wordsworth, Montgomery, Hood and Tennyson. 

 Many other poets during this period have sung of insects but 

 these men above all others have given proof of real sympa- 

 thy with the insect life about them. Although the early poets 

 mention only the very familiar forms of insect life, the more 

 nearly we approach our own era, the more special becomes the 

 entomological knowledge displayed, until we find recent poets 



