Poem by Menella Bute Smedley

A Birthday Petition to a Butterfly

Everybody must kiss me!
It is my birthday to-day;
Soon, very soon they will miss me,
So I can't linger to play.
But I ran out for a minute,
One little kiss to implore;
Butterfly, once you begin it,
Maybe you'll ask me for more!

With all the blossoms coquetting,
Just at the close of the day,
You disappear at sunsetting;
Where do you flutter away?
Somebody made the suggestion,
Up to the stars you had flown;
Butterfly, answer my question,
Have you a star of your own?
Oft have I search'd for your dwelling,
And when I've seen you at rest,
Fancied the rose you were smelling
Might be a butterfly's nest.
Pray do you sleep with your dress on?
Have you your bed in a star?
(Do you believe, with my lesson,
That they are ever so far?)

Long for my birthday I've waited,
All of a sudden it's here!
Then I am petted and fêted
One royal day in the year!
Lessons no more are imparted,
Pleasure each moment must bring;
No one is half so hard-hearted
As to refuse me a thing!
Butterfly, you owe me duty,
Long have I waited for this;
Come in, you glittering beauty,
Give me a sweet little kiss.
Nobody dares to distress me;
You must be amiable too—
Butterfly, come and caress me,
I'll never tell if you do!

1. The Little Schooner
2. The Little Fair Soul
3. One and Another
4. The Six Burghers of Calais
5. Out of the Depths

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