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Lamenting a failed queen introduction from 1886

891 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  JWPalmer 
#1 ·
Hey all, came across this poem in the April 15, 1886 British Bee Journal.

The writer is lamenting the loss of a queen he imported from South Africa.

Epitaph on a Zulu Queen

Within this glass there lies, Alas!
The body of a queen.
Of princely birth, of priceless worth,
With bands of golden sheen.

Why did she die? Ah, tell me why.
From Afric’s sunny clime,
Through ocean’s roar, to England’s shore,
She travell’d in her prime.

But common bees (no judges these
Of excellence of birth),
Refus’d to take, for Walker’s sake,
Her, at her sov’reign worth.

So did she die, and outstretched lie,
Her royal heart was burst,
Bereft of breath, still fair in death,
His last love, and his first.
R. S. Routh
I think most of us have been there.
 
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