THE QUEEN BEE. 115 



describing their labours, show his knowledge of the 

 third. 



" So work the honey bees ; 



Creatures, that, by a rule in nature, teach 



The art of order to a peopled kingdom. 



Tliey have a king and otticers 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 poor mechanic porters crowding in 



Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate ; 



The sad-eyed justice, with his surly himi, 



Delivering o'er to executors pale 



The lazy yawning drone." — Henrii Y., Act I. Sc. II. 



Such is the splendid description given by Shaks- 

 peare of the economy of a bee-hive, — a description 

 poetical in the highest degree, and pleasing alike to 

 the ear and the imagination. In it, without apparent 

 effort, we have a rich and glowing picture. The 

 artist, with his accustomed skill, has " o'erstepped 

 not the modest)'' of nature ;" and yet the simile is 

 sustained, animated, and vigorous throughout. 



It is the queen bee, you are aware, that seems to 

 regulate the industry and preserve the equilibrium of 

 the denizens of the hive ; and to her, Shakspeare, 

 like the ancients, invariably applies a male epithet. 

 When by any accident she is destroyed, the social 



I 2 



