The Bees and the Flies
A farmer of the Augustan AgePerused in Virgil's golden page,The story of the secret wonFrom Proteus by Cyrene's son--How the dank sea-god showed the swainMeans to restore his hives again.More briefly, how a slaughtered bullBreeds honey by the bellyful.
The egregious rustic put to deathA bull by stopping of its breath,Disposed the carcass in a shedWith fragrant herbs and branches spread,And, having thus performed the charm,Sat down to wait the promised swarm.
Nor waited long. The God of DayImpartial, quickening with his rayEvil and good alike, beheldThe carcass--and the carcass swelled.Big with new birth the belly heavesBeneath its screen of scented leaves.Past any doubt, the bull conceives!
The farmer bids men bring more hivesTo house the profit that arrives;Prepares on pan, and key and kettle,Sweet music that shall make 'em settle;But when to crown the work he goes,Gods! what a stink salutes his nose!
Where are the honest toilers? WhereThe gravid mistress of their care?A busy scene, indeed, he sees,But not a sign or sound of bees.Worms of the riper grave unhidBy any kindly coffin lid,Obscene and shameless to the light,Seethe in insatiate appetite,Through putrid offal, while aboveThe hissing blow-fly seeks his love,Whose offspring, supping where they supt,Consume corruption twice corrupt.
Words in this poem
- augustan a.
- Of or pertaining to Augustus Cæsar or to his times. [L. Augustanus, fr. Augustus. See August, n.]
- dank n.
- Moisture; humidity; water.
- bellyful n.
- As much as satisfies the appetite. Hence: A great abundance; more than enough. Lloyd.
- carcass n.
- A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa, fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf. Carnal, Case a sheath.]
- quickening n.
- The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
- kettle n.
- A metallic vessel, with a wide mouth, often without a cover, used for heating and boiling water or other liguids. Kettle pins, ninepins; skittles. Shelton. [OE. ketel; cf. AS. cetel, cetil, cytel; akin to D. kjedel, G. kessel, OHG. chezzil, Icel. ketill, SW. kittel, Dan. kjedel, Goth. katils; all perh. fr. L. catill]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- gravid a.
- Being with child; heavy with young; pregnant; fruitful; as, a gravid uterus; gravid piety. [L. gravidus, fr. gravis heavy, loaded. See Grave, a.]
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
- offal n.
- The rejected or waste parts of a butchered animal. [Off + fall.]
- supping n.
- The act of one who sups; the act of taking supper.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Bees and the Flies is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, The Bees and the Flies, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/the-bees-and-the-flies.html, id L20328.
Form and metre
The Bees and the Flies is 39 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCC-- ageA · pageA · wonB · sonB · swainC · againC · bull · bellyful
- 2 AABB-- deathA · breathA · shedB · spreadB · charm · swarm
- 3 AABBCCC dayA · rayA · beheldB · swelledB · heavesC · leavesC · conceivesC
- 4 AABBCC hivesA · arrivesA · kettleB · settleB · goesC · noseC
- 5 AABB--CCDDEE whereA · careA · seesB · beesB · unhid · lid · lightC · appetiteC · aboveD · loveD · suptE · corruptE
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A farmer of the Augustan Age | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| Perused in Virgil's golden page, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| The story of the secret won | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From Proteus by Cyrene's son-- | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| How the dank sea-god showed the swain | 8 | ········ |
| Means to restore his hives again. | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| More briefly, how a slaughtered bull | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Breeds honey by the bellyful. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The egregious rustic put to death | 9 | ·˘/˘/˘··· |
| A bull by stopping of its breath, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Disposed the carcass in a shed | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| With fragrant herbs and branches spread, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And, having thus performed the charm, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Sat down to wait the promised swarm. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor waited long. The God of Day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Impartial, quickening with his ray | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Evil and good alike, beheld | 8 | /˘··˘/˘/ |
| The carcass--and the carcass swelled. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Big with new birth the belly heaves | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath its screen of scented leaves. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Past any doubt, the bull conceives! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The farmer bids men bring more hives | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To house the profit that arrives; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Prepares on pan, and key and kettle, | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| Sweet music that shall make 'em settle; | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| But when to crown the work he goes, | 8 | ········ |
| Gods! what a stink salutes his nose! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Where are the honest toilers? Where | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The gravid mistress of their care? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A busy scene, indeed, he sees, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| But not a sign or sound of bees. | 8 | ········ |
| Worms of the riper grave unhid | 8 | ········ |
| By any kindly coffin lid, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Obscene and shameless to the light, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Seethe in insatiate appetite, | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Through putrid offal, while above | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The hissing blow-fly seeks his love, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Whose offspring, supping where they supt, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Consume corruption twice corrupt. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.