Poems (Wordsworth, 1815)/Volume 1/To a Butterfly (1)
For other versions of this work, see To a Butterfly (Wordsworth, "Stay near me—do not take thy flight!").
II.
TO A BUTTERFLY.
Stay near me—do not take thy flight!
A little longer stay in sight!
Much converse do I find in Thee,
Historian of my Infancy!
Float near me; do not yet depart!
Dead times revive in thee:
Thou bring'st, gay Creature as thou art!
A solemn image to my heart,
My Father's Family!
Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days,
The time, when in our childish plays,
My Sister Emmeline and I
Together chased the Butterfly!
A very hunter did I rush
Upon the prey:—with leaps and springs
I followed on from brake to bush;
But She, God love her! feared to brush
The dust from off its wings.