Is it too late to touch you, Dear — Water Beetle

Is it too late to touch you, Dear?
We this moment knew－
Love Marine and Love terrene－
Love celestial too－

(F.1674/J.1637)

[1] too late to touch:: "the Great Water Beetle. This insect also bears the name of the Plunger, from the rapidity with which it dashes from the surface of the water to the bottom. At the bottom of the water, and even in the mud, it moves almost as vigorously as it does in plunging." Buffon's Natural History (1831)
[3-4] Marine, terrene, celestial too:: Describing an animal that can move in water, land, and air. Dytiscidae can dive and fly.

The Great Water-Beetle. ... But this beetle, when it has passed from the larva state and obtained its wings, still lives in that water which nourished it to this state of perfection, without any inconvenience, as long as it suits its inclination; when weary of this place, or its food becoming scarce, it wings its way to another pool, into which it immediately plunges, and recommences its life of rapine. ─ The Journal of a Naturalist (1829)

The Great Water Beetle. This insect also bears the name of the Plunger, from the rapidity with which it dashes from the surface of the water to the bottom. At the bottom of the water, and even in the mud, it moves almost as vigorously as it does in plunging. ─ Buffon's Natural History (1831)

The four posterior legs of the Dytiscidae or water-beetles are not only broad and flattened like oars, but ciliated along their internal margin, by which means the rowing surface is still more increased. ─ The Harmonies of Nature (1866)