1 8 INTRODUCTION. 



firstly, because a more extended notice of all would be 

 beyond the limits of the present work ; and, secondly, 

 because the Entomology of Shakespeare has been already 

 dealt with elsewhere.* 



These three are the Bee, the Drone, and the Fly, and we 

 select quotations in reference to these in order to illustrate 

 Shakespeare's knowledge of the subject on which he 

 wrote ; the lessons to be learnt from his allusions ; and the 

 sympathy which he has manifested for all living creatures. 



What better picture of the interior of a hive can be found 

 than the following ? How well are the duties of the 

 inmates described ! 



" For so work the honey bees, 

 Creatures that, by a rule in nature, teach 

 The act of order to a peopled kingdom. 

 They have a king, and officers of sorts : 

 Where some, like magistrates, correct at home ; 

 Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad ; 

 Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, 

 Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds ; 

 Which pillage they with merry march bring home 

 To the tent-royal of their emperor ; 

 Who, busied in his majesty, surveys 

 The singing masons building roofs of gold, 

 The civil citizens kneading-up the honey ; 



* "The Natural History of the Insects mentioned in Shakspeare's Plays," by 

 Robert Patterson, i2mo. Lond. 1841. 



