’Twas on a day serene and fair,

The sun was bright and æther clear,

The rocking winds were lull’d to rest,

And ev’ry murmuring gale supprest;

When, tempted by th’ alluring heat,

A Fly forsook her dark retreat

To taste the sweetness of the skies,

And tinge her wings with various dyes;

Restless she rov’d her narrow tour,

And borrow’d paint from ev’ry flow’r;