Classic Poem

(Amazilia cerviniventris.)

A wingëd rocket, curving through
 An amethyst trajectory,
Blew up the magazines of dew
 Within the fortress of the bee.

Some say the tulip mortar sent
 The missile forth; I do not know;
I scarcely saw which way it went,
 Its whisk of flame surprised me so.

I heard the sudden hum and boom,
 And saw the arc of purple light
Across the garden's rosy gloom;
 Then something glorious blurred my sight!

The bees forgot to sound alarm,
 And did not pause their gates to lock;
A topaz terror took by storm
 The tower of the hollyhock.

Above the rose a halo hung,
 As if a bomb had been a gem,
And round the dahlia's head was swung
 A blade that looked a diadem.

What more befell I cannot say;
 By ruby glint and emerald gleam
My sense was dazed; the garden lay
 Around me like an opal dream!