★ The Silkworm Lyrics:
The beams of April, ere it goes,
A worm, scarce visible, disclose;
All winter long content to dwell
The tenant of his native shell.
The same prolific season gives
The sustenance by which he lives,
The mulberry-leaf, a simple store,
That serves him-till he needs no more!
For, his dimensions once complete,
Thenceforth none ever sees him eat;
Though, till his growing time be past,
Scarce ever is he seen to fast.
That hour arrived, his work begins;
He spins and weaves, and weaves and spins
Till circle upon circle wound
Careless around him and around
Conceals him with a veil, though slight,
Impervious to the keenest sight.
Thus self-enclosed, as in a cask,
At length he finishes his task:
And, though a worm, when he was lost,
Or caterpillar at the most,
When next we see him, wings he wears,
And in papilio-pomp* appears;
Becomes oviparous**; supplies
With future worms and future flies
The next-ensuing year; -and dies!
Well were it for the world, if all
Who creep about this earthly ball,
Though shorter-lived than most he be,
We useful in their kind as he.
★ Checkout this song aswell :
Little Sailor Boy