The Dragonfly

The Dragonfly written by William Henry Davies

From "A Poet's Calendar", 1927

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Now, when my roses are half buds, half flowers,
And loveliest, the king of flies has come -
It was a fleeting visit, all too brief;
In three short minutes he had seen them all,
And rested, too, upon an apple leaf.

There, his round shoulders humped with emeralds,
A gorgeous opal crown set on his head,
And all those shining honours to his breast -
'My garden is a lovely place,' thought I,
'But is it worthy of so fine a guest?'

He rested there, upon that apple leaf-
'See, see,' I cried amazed, 'his opal crown,
And all those emeralds clustered round his head!'
'His breast, my dear, how lovely was his breast' -
The voice of my Belovèd quickly said.

'See, see his gorgeous crown, that shines
With all those jewels bulging round its rim' —
I cried aloud at night, in broken rest.
Back came the answer quickly, in my dream -
'His breast, my dear, how lovely was his breast!'

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.