I take my flight
To where the maidens repose;
And while they are slumbering sweet and sound,
I bite them on the nose;
The warm red blood that tints their cheeks,
To me is precious dear,
For 'tis my delight to buzz and bite
In the season of the year.

When I get my fill, I wipe my bill,
And sound my tiny horn;
And off I fly to mountain high
Ere breaks the golden morn;
But at eve I sally forth again
To tickle the sleeper's ear;
For 'tis my delight to buzz and bite
In the season of the year.

On the chamber wall about I crawl,
Till landlord goes to bed;
Then my bugle I blow, and down I go
To light upon his head.
Oh, I love to see the fellow slap,
And regret to hear him swear;
For 'tis my delight to buzz and bite
In the season of the year.

The Nightingale and Glow-worm

A Nightingale, that all day long
Had cheered the village with his song,
Nor yet at eve his note suspended,
Nor yet when eventide was ended,
Began to feel--as well he might--
The keen demands of appetite;
When looking eagerly around,
He spied, far off, upon the ground,
A something shining in the dark,
And knew the glow-worm by his spark;
So; stooping down, from hawthorn top,
He thought to put him in his crop
The worm, aware of his intent,
Harangued him this, quite eloquent--
"Did you admire my lamp," quoth he,
"As much as I your minstrelsy?
You would abhor to do me wrong,
As much as I to spoil your song;
For 'twas the self-same power divine
Taught you to sing, and me to shine:
That you with music, I with light,
Might beautify and cheer the night."
The songster heard his short oration,
And, warbling out his approbation,
Released him as my story tells,
And found a supper somewhere else.

Cowper

The Glow-worm

Beneath this hedge, or near the stream,
A worm is known to stray,
That shows by night a lucid stream
That disappears by day.

Disputes have been, and still prevail,
From whence his rays proceed;
Some give the honor to his tail,
And others to his head;

But this is sure--the hand of might
That kindles up the skies,
Gives him a modicum of light,
Proportion'd to his size.

Perhaps indulgent Nature meant,
By such a lamp bestow'd,
To bid the traveller as he went,
Be careful where he trod.

Cowper