South Winds jostle them－1
Bumblebees come－
Hover－hesitate－
Drink, and are gone－
Butterflies pause 5
On their passage Cashmere－
I－softly plucking,
Present them here!
Bumblebees come－
Hover－hesitate－
Drink, and are gone－
Butterflies pause 5
On their passage Cashmere－
I－softly plucking,
Present them here!
(F.98/J.86)
[1] them:: bee-orchids, or bumblebee orchids, with flowers like female bumblebees to attract the male.
[2] Bumblebees:: a hint on bumblebee orchid.
[3] Hover, hesitate:: the bees hesitating due to the likeness.
[4] gone:: got pregnant; the pollination of the orchids via bees.
[6] Cashmere:: velvet-like dark labellum of the bumblebee orchid.
[7] plucking:: plucking the flowers, not the butterflies.
The Bee-ophrys has, indeed, the appearance of that insect, engaged in pilfering a flower; Mr. Price has frequently witnessed attacks made upon the plant by a Bee. ─ A Catalogue of Rare or Remarkable Phaenogamous Plants (1829)
The Bee-orchis (A flower exactly resembling that insect.) . . . Close on yon flow'ret's velvet breast, Behold ! one busy vagrant lies, . . . I sought the living bee to find, And found the picture of a bee. ─ The Poetical Primer (1849)