William Lisle Bowles Poems

William Lisle Bowles was an English critic, poet, and priest who was born in 1762. His Fourteen Sonnets was published in 1789 and received well by the general public. This collection is often regarded as a return to a “purer” style of poetry.

The Butterfly and the Bee

by William Lisle Bowles

‘The Butterfly and the Bee’ is a children’s poem written by the English poet William Lisle Bowles. This poem contrasts the life of a bee and that of a butterfly.

Methought I heard a butterfly

Say to a labouring bee:

'Thou hast no colours of the sky

On painted wings like me.'

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