The Spirit of the Hive

Back in the shaggy
underbelly
of the hive
in the quick amber
of the Queen's chamber
the message
passes, testifies
phenomena of order. 
Come.Come
with me to the sweet
chestnut flower,
the viola and the fox-
glove.
Finger and invade
the low-slung
swinging willow. 
In circuitous dances
it tumbles: 
the one prayer.
Before and after.
Precise as distance.

by Jeffery Beam , "The Spirit of the Hive", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Lee Hoiby (1926-) , "The Spirit of the Hive", 2001 [voice, violoncello, and piano], from The Life of the Bee, no. 2.

Date added to the website: 2009-10-29.

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