Bi:«5. 85 



Poetical description of the Bee Hive. 



What various wonders may observers see 

 In a small insect—the sagacious Bee? 

 Mark how the little untaught builders square 

 Their rooms, and in the dark their lodgings rear ! 

 Nature's mechanics, they unwearied strive, 

 And fill with curious labyrinths the hive. 

 See what bright strokes of architecture shine 

 Thro' the whole frame — what beauty, what design \ 

 Each odoriferous cell and waxen tow'r, 

 The yellow pillage of the rifl'd flow'r, 

 Has twice three sides, the only figure fit, 

 To w hich the laborers may their stores commit^ 

 Without the loss of matter, or of room, 

 In all the wond'rous structure of the comb. 

 Next view, spectator, with admiring eyes. 

 In what just order all th' apartments rise ! 

 So regular their equal sides cohere, 

 Th' adapted angles so each other bear; 

 That by mechanic rules refin'd and bold, 

 They are at once upheld, at once uphold. 

 Does not this skill ev'n vie with reason's reach? 

 Can I'uclid more, can more Falladio teach? 

 Each verdant hill th' industrious chymists climb; 

 Extract the riches of the blooming thyme ; 

 And provident of winter long before, 

 They stock their caves, and hoard their flow'ry 

 store. 



