Rate this poem:0.0 / 0 votes

Sweet honey-sucking bees

John Wilbye 1574 (Diss) – 1638 (Colchester)



Sweet honey-sucking bees, why do you still
surfeit on roses, pinks and violets,
as if the choicest nectar lay in them
wherewith you store your curious cabinets?

Ah, make your flight to Melisuavia's lips.
There may you revel in ambrosian cheer,
where smiling roses and sweet lilies sit,
Keeping their springtide graces all the year.

[Part 2:
Yet, sweet, take heed, all sweets are hard to get:
Sting not her soft lips, O, beware of that,
for if one flaming dart come from her eye,
was never dart so sharp, ah, then you die.
]

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

29 sec read
115

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XXXCC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 518
Words 97
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 6

John Wilbye

John Wilbye (baptized 7 March 1574 – September 1638) was an English madrigal composer. more…

All John Wilbye poems | John Wilbye Books

0 fans

Discuss this John Wilbye poem with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Sweet honey-sucking bees" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 22 Mar. 2023. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/24227/sweet-honey-sucking-bees>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2023

    Poetry Contest

    Enter our monthly contest for the chance to win cash prizes and gain recognition for your talent.
    9
    days
    12
    hours
    53
    minutes

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    From which London landmark did Wordsworth celebrate the view in his poem beginning: "Earth has not any thing to show more fair..."
    • A. Waterloo Sunset
    • B. Westminster Bridge
    • C. Hampstead Heath
    • D. The Tower of London