Poems (Sharpless)/The Argynnis Cybele Butterfly
THE ARGYNNIS CYBELE BUTTERFLY
She has such lovely velvet wings! Soft plumes of richest brown,With dainty golden pencilingsThat glitter in her flutterings Like flame a gust hath blown.
She poises on a clover bloom, The upright wings are seen;Pure silver stars the shades illume;This perfect beauty is,—for whom? What can it mean?
Do flowers, and winds and streams have eyes, That this fair thing should be?These tender lines, these sumptuous dyes?Of Beauty's conquering witcheries What need hath she?
Could I but grasp the haunting hints That come, and quickly go,Like the gleaming of her argent tints,Life's secret, with its deep intents, I should surely know.
But, is it strange a thing that is A winged thought of God,Should come in beauty like to this?Or from a treasury like His, Perfection be bestowed?