The Bee & the Butterfly: Scene One of Seven

The Bee & The Butterfly

A Garden Melodrama

(In Seven Delightful Scenes)

 

Scene 1: The Rose Garden�"

Enter Sibyl Mantis and Her Attendant, Mika.

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

Now do the cares of day become a haze

Of mazy, riven paths and withered leaves.

 

MIKA:

 

The candle flies disperse from out their court

And rise like limpid sprites above the ruins.

They swirl into what seems to be a dance �"

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

Forgetful of all else!

 

(Notices Lovers on a Rose Petal)

 

But what are these

That drowse ensorcelled

In the after-glows of twilight?

Behold, what never flew before

Has flown into the lap of Nyx’s^[1] grace.

 

 

MIKA:

 

His eyes are fixed upon that darling’s face.

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

And yet I think he only dreams of her.

 

MIKA:

 

Perchance he was laid low; his form is still.

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

And yet a hum is heard

That was not heard before.

 

Oh, he has drunk the nectar that is hidden in the iris �"

See, how he gleams upon her pillow, and curls beneath her breath!

 

MIKA:

 

She seems to know this, yet she does not speak,

But moans her tender love into his ear.

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

Night comes in tinseled silk �"

 

First as a better lover

And then a lover’s friend;

 

She doffs her sable cloak

And spills her richest gems!

 

We shall, in good time, know what deed is done.

For now, the curtains close and hide the waxing moon.

---

[1] In a voice faintly satirical, the poet seeks to establish the mood of an Elizabethan tragi-comedy. Nyx is the Greek goddess (or personification) of the night.