Telling the Bees
In 1858, ‘Telling the Bees” was published in the Atlantic Monthly. The description of the setting, the Whittier Homestead in Haverhill, was accurate, but the story is fictitious. Whittier explains the meaning of the poem in his introductory note.
Telling the Bees
A remarkable custom, brought from the Old Country, formerly prevailed in the rural districts of New England. On the death of a member of the family, the bees were at once informed of the event, and their hives dressed in mourning. This ceremonial was supposed to be necessary to prevent the swarms from leaving their hives and seeking a new home.
Here is the place; right over the hill
Runs the path I took;
You can see the gap in the old wall still,
And the stepping-stones in the shallow brook.There is the house, with the gate red-barred,
And the poplars tall;
And the barn’s brown length, and the cattle-yard,
And the white horns tossing above the wall.There are the beehives ranged in the sun;
***
And down by the brink
Of the brook are her poor flowers, weed-o’errun,
Pansy and daffodil, rose and pink.Before them, under the garden wall,
***
Forward and back,
Went drearily singing the chore-girl small,
Draping each hive with a shred of black.And the song she was singing ever since
In my ear sounds on:--
“Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!
Mistress Mary is dead and gone!”
Full text of "Telling the Bees"
