Marked you a Bee who circled round our ears,
And stunned them with his noisy trumpeting,
Now faintly heard? Again these flowers he nears,
But drops among them with more cautious wing.
With his monotonous voice he first to sleep
Hath lulled these maiden flowers, and now doth steal,
Just as Dishonesty will watch and creep,
To rob them whilst they nothing fear or feel.
When he is sated, with a louder blow
Of his deep horn he'll hence—but not by stealth;
Glad and rejoicing you shall hear him go,
Leaving them robbed of beauty's virgin wealth:—
How like to a seducer vile is he,
Winning by craft what others want through honesty!