Holding council in the breast is like the "regal bee" consulting before calling forth the "warlike train" "from their waxen cells"
— Thelwall, John (1764-1834)
Author
Date
1805?
Metaphor
Holding council in the breast is like the "regal bee" consulting before calling forth the "warlike train" "from their waxen cells"
Metaphor in Context
So they, impatient for the Cambrian war,
Foam mad'ning: while for Adelfrid they shout,
Till with percussion of the beaten air
The palace trembles. Red'wald hears astound:
Nor ill divining the insidious cause,
Ponders with painful doubt; and with his breast
Holds fearful council. So a swarm of wasps,
By hunger urg'd, around the industrious hive
Throng martial, and, with brandish'd sting prepar'd,
Breathe thro' their tiny horns the threatening blast
Impetuous; while within the regal bee
Fears for the foodful store, and, ere she calls
Forth from their waxen cells and frugal toils
The warlike train, debates, with quick consult,
How wiseliest to repel impending woe.
Foam mad'ning: while for Adelfrid they shout,
Till with percussion of the beaten air
The palace trembles. Red'wald hears astound:
Nor ill divining the insidious cause,
Ponders with painful doubt; and with his breast
Holds fearful council. So a swarm of wasps,
By hunger urg'd, around the industrious hive
Throng martial, and, with brandish'd sting prepar'd,
Breathe thro' their tiny horns the threatening blast
Impetuous; while within the regal bee
Fears for the foodful store, and, ere she calls
Forth from their waxen cells and frugal toils
The warlike train, debates, with quick consult,
How wiseliest to repel impending woe.
Categories
Provenance
HDIS: searching internal councils
Theme
Soliloquy
Date of Entry
03/30/2004
