“Sonnet to a Wasp, in the Manner of Milton, &C., but Much Superior
Poor insect! rash as rare!--Thy sovereign, sure,Hath driven thee to Siberia in disgrace--Else what delusion could thy sense allureTo buzz and sting in this unwholesome place,Where e’en the hornet’s hoarser, and the raceOf filmy wing are feeble? Honey here(Scarce as its rhyme) thou find’st not. Ah, bewareThy golden mail, to starved Arachne dear!Though fingers famed, that thrill the immortal lyre,Have pent thee up, a second Asmodeus,I wail thy doom--I warm thee by the fire,And blab our secrets--do not thou betray us!I give thee liberty, I give thee breath,To fly from Athens, Eurus, Doctors, Death!!”
Sooth’d by the strain, the Wasp thus made reply--(The first, last time he spoke not waspishly)--“Too late, kind Poet! comes thine aid, thy song,To aught first starved, then bottled up so long.Yet, for the warmth of this thy genial fire,Take a Wasp’s blessing ere his race expire:--Never may provost’s foot find entrance here!Never may bailie’s voice invade thine ear!Never may housemaid wipe the verd antiqueFrom coin of thine--Assyrian, Celt, or Greek!Never may Eurus cross thy path!--to theeMay winds and wynds alike propitious be!And when thou diest--(live a thousand years!)--May friends fill classic bottles with their tears!I can no more--receive my parting gasp!--Bid Scotland mourn the last, last lingering Wasp!”Beelzebub is the king of flies.
A beautiful allusion to our starving weavers.
Alluding to antiquarian visits to these renowned closes.
Referring to certain precious lachrymatories in the possession ofMr Sharpe.
Words in this poem 15
- filmy a.
- Composed of film or films.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- blab v. t.
- To utter or tell unnecessarily, or in a thoughtless manner; to publish (secrets or trifles) without reserve or discretion. Udall. [Cf. OE. blaberen, or Dan. blabbre, G. plappern, Gael. blabaran a stammerer; prob. of imitative origin. Cf. also Blubber, v.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- bottled a.
- Put into bottles; inclosed in bottles; pent up in, or as in, a bottle.
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- gasp v. i.
- To open the mouth wide in catching the breath, or in laborious respiration; to labor for breath; to respire convulsively; to pant violently. [OE. gaspen, gaispen, to yawn, gasp, Icel. geispa to yawn; akin to Sw. gäspa, Dan. gispe to gasp.]
- beelzebub n.
- The title of a heathen deity to whom the Jews ascribed the sovereignty of the evil spirits; hence, the Devil or a devil. See Baal.
- allusion n.
- A figurative or symbolical reference. [L. allusio, fr. alludere to allude: cf. F. allusion.]
- antiquarian a.
- Pertaining to antiquaries, or to antiquity; as, antiquarian literature. [See Antiquary]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“Sonnet to a Wasp, in the Manner of Milton, &C., but Much Superior is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, “Sonnet to a Wasp, in the Manner of Milton, &C., but Much Superior, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/sonnet-to-a-wasp-in-the-manner-of-milton-c-but-much-superior.html, id L19604.
Form and metre
“Sonnet to a Wasp, in the Manner of Milton, &C., but Much Superior is 35 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABBCCCDEDEFF sureA · disgraceB · allureA · placeB · raceB · hereC · bewareC · dearC · lyreD · asmodeusE · fireD · usE · breathF · deathF
- 2 --AABBCCDDEEFF--- reply · waspishly · songA · longA · fireB · expireB · hereC · earC · antiqueD · greekD · theeE · beE · yearsF · tearsF · gasp · wasp · flies
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Poor insect! rash as rare!--Thy sovereign, sure, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Hath driven thee to Siberia in disgrace-- | 10 | ·/··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Else what delusion could thy sense allure | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| To buzz and sting in this unwholesome place, | 11 | ··········· |
| Where e’en the hornet’s hoarser, and the race | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of filmy wing are feeble? Honey here | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| (Scarce as its rhyme) thou find’st not. Ah, beware | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Thy golden mail, to starved Arachne dear! | 10 | ·/˘···˘··· |
| Though fingers famed, that thrill the immortal lyre, | 11 | ·/˘····˘/˘· |
| Have pent thee up, a second Asmodeus, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| I wail thy doom--I warm thee by the fire, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And blab our secrets--do not thou betray us! | 11 | ··//˘···˘/· |
| I give thee liberty, I give thee breath, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| To fly from Athens, Eurus, Doctors, Death!!” | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Sooth’d by the strain, the Wasp thus made reply-- | 10 | ········˘/ |
| (The first, last time he spoke not waspishly)-- | 10 | ·········· |
| “Too late, kind Poet! comes thine aid, thy song, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To aught first starved, then bottled up so long. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yet, for the warmth of this thy genial fire, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Take a Wasp’s blessing ere his race expire:-- | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Never may provost’s foot find entrance here! | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Never may bailie’s voice invade thine ear! | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/·· |
| Never may housemaid wipe the verd antique | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| From coin of thine--Assyrian, Celt, or Greek! | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Never may Eurus cross thy path!--to thee | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| May winds and wynds alike propitious be! | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| And when thou diest--(live a thousand years!)-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| May friends fill classic bottles with their tears! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I can no more--receive my parting gasp!-- | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Bid Scotland mourn the last, last lingering Wasp!” | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Beelzebub is the king of flies. | 9 | ˘/˘˘····· |
| A beautiful allusion to our starving weavers. | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘·//˘/˘ |
| Alluding to antiquarian visits to these renowned closes. | 16 | ˘/˘·····/˘··˘//˘ |
| Referring to certain precious lachrymatories in the possession of | 18 | ˘/˘·/˘/˘······˘/˘· |
| Mr Sharpe. | 3 | /˘· |
Notes from the edition 4
Notes from The Poems of Felicia Hemans (Project Gutenberg #66785), largely Mrs Hemans's own.
- Stanza 1, line 1 Beelzebub is the king of flies.
- Stanza 1, line 8 A beautiful allusion to our starving weavers.
- Stanza 2, line 12 Alluding to antiquarian visits to these renowned closes.
- Stanza 2, line 14 Referring to certain precious lachrymatories in the possession of Mr Sharpe.
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