The Butterfly's Ball And The Grasshopper's Feast
By William Roscoe
Come take up your hats, and away let us haste
To the Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast:
The trumpeter Gad-fly has summon'd the crew,
And the revels are now only waiting for you.
On the smooth-shaven grass by the side of a wood,
Beneath a broad oak which for ages had stood,
See the children of earth, and the tenants of air,
To an evening's amusement together repair.
And there came the Beetle, so blind and so black,
Who carried the Emmet, his friend, on his back;
And there came the Gnat, and the Dragon-fly too,
And all their relations green, orange, and blue.
And there came the Moth, with her plumage of down,
And the Hornet, with jacket of yellow and brown,
Who with him the Wasp, his companion, did bring,
But they promis'd, that ev'ning, to lay by their sting.
Then the sly little Dormouse peep'd out of his hole,
And led to the feast, his blind cousin, the Mole;
And the Snail, with her horns peeping out of her shell,
Came, fatigu'd with the distance, the length of an ell.
A mushroom the table, and on it was spread
A water-dock leaf, which their table-cloth made.
The viands were various, to each of their taste,
And the Bee brought the honey to sweeten the feast.
With steps most majestic the Snail did advance,
And he promis'd the gazers a minuet to dance;
But they all laugh'd so loud that he drew in his head,
And went in his own little chamber to bed.
Then, as ev'ning gave way to the shadows of night,
Their watchman, the Glow-worm, came out with his light:
So home let us hasten, while yet we can see;
For no watchman is waiting for you or for me.
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No, I did not watch the debate -- my stomach was a little off from the squash-and-veggie-sausage pasta we had for dinner and I didn't want to risk upsetting it. In general my Tuesday was kind of wimpy -- it involved a trip to Giant and CVS with my spouse for necessities like grapefruit juice, a walk during which every single bunny was hiding though there were lots of chipmunks, and folding laundry (don't get excited, it was mostly an excuse to watch the Once Upon a Time I missed on Sunday night -- it's still silly).
Since we knew we weren't watching the debate (and the local news was all about a huge water main break, and Lamar Odom hadn't been found yet), we watched The Flash, which is quite enjoyable even with Slightly Cranky Superhero (that show's version of Dark Superhero), Agents of SHIELD (I'd fail a quiz on what's happened so far this season I've been so bored), and Limitless (still purposefully overly dorky, they need to trust their audience and let their main character not act like a womanizing dork at random). Lewis Ginter butterflies:
