The Butterfly's Funeral A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball and Grasshopper's Feast — Story, Setting & Ideas

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In Category - Animals

Authors: J. L. B. Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2007 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Animals -- Juvenile poetry; Insects -- Juvenile poetry Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 3,861

Reading time 17 min

Text sections 1

Before opening The Butterfly's Funeral A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball and Grasshopper's Feast — Story, Setting & Ideas, the edition data offers a quick orientation: 3,861 words, 17 min estimated reading time, and 1 detected text section.

The text analysis averages about 25.1 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Animals -- Juvenile poetry,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #22201

A 1808 sequel to The Butterfly's Ball, this poem describes the funeral of a butterfly, with insects mourning, a burial, and an epitaph. The text shifts from lively celebration to solemn ritual, using consistent meter and a cast of insect characters.

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

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Edition quality

File: pg22201

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Produced by David Wilson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

THE BUTTERFLY'S FUNERAL.

A sequel to the _BUTTERFLY's BALL and GRASSHOPPER's FEAST_.

The Embellishments designed and engraved BY A LADY.

_LONDON_: PRINTED FOR JOHN WALLIS JUN., _At the Universal Juvenile Library & original Dissected-Map Warehouse_, Removed from Ludgate-street, to No. 188, STRAND, (Next Door to the Crown-and-Anchor Tavern).

Brettell and Co. Printers, Marshall-Street, Golden-Square.

The Butterfly's Funeral.

Oh, ye, who so lately were blythesome and gay, At the Butterfly's Banquet, carousing away; Your feasts and your revels of pleasure are fled, For the soul of the Banquet, the Butterfly's dead.

No longer the Flies and the Emmets advance, To join with their friends in the Grasshopper's dance; For see, his thin form o'er the favourite bend, And the Grasshopper mourns for the loss of his friend.

And hark, to the funeral dirge of the Bee, And the Beetle who follows as solemn as he; And see, where so mournful the green rushes wave, The Mole is preparing the Butterfly's grave.

The Dormouse attended, but cold and forlorn; And the Gnat slowly winded his shrill little horn; And the Moth, who was griev'd for the loss of a sister, Bent over the body, and silently kist her.

The corse was embalm'd, at the set of the sun, And enclos'd in a case, which the Silk-worm had spun; By the help of the Hornet, the coffin was laid, On a bier, out of myrtle and jessamine made.

In weepers and scarfs, came the Butterflies all, And six of their numbers supported the pall: And the Spider came there, in his mourning so black: But the fire of the Glow-worm soon frighten'd him back.

The Grub left his nut-shell, to join the sad throng, And slowly led with him the Book-worm along, Who wept his poor neighbour's unfortunate doom, And wrote these few lines, to be plac'd on his tomb:--

At this solemn spot, where the green rushes wave, Here sadly we bent o'er the Butterfly's grave; 'Twas here we to beauty our obsequies paid, And hallow'd the mound which her ashes have made.

And here shall the daisy and violet blow, And the lily discover her bosom of snow; While under the leaf, in the evenings of spring, Still mourning her friend, shall the Grasshopper sing.

For the soul of the Banquet the Butterfly's dead

And the Grasshopper mourns for the loss of his friend

And hark! to the funeral dirge of the Bee &c.

The Mole is preparing the Butterfly's grave

The corse was embalmed at the set of the Sun &c.

And six of their numbers supported the Pall

The Dormouse attended but cold & forlorn &c.

Bent over her body and silently kist her

The Grub left his nutshell to join the sad throng

And wrote these few lines to be plac'd on his tomb

Continue Reading →

The poem opens with a direct address to those who were 'blythesome and gay' at the Butterfly's Banquet, immediately establishing a contrast between past revelry and present grief. The first stanza announces the Butterfly's death and the end of festivities, setting a somber tone that persists throughout. The meter is consistent iambic tetrameter, and the rhyme scheme (AABB) gives a ballad-like quality. The opening lines serve as a clear signal that this sequel moves from celebration to mourning.

A Procession of Mourners

The poem introduces a series of insect mourners, each with a specific role or characteristic. The Bee sings a 'funeral dirge,' the Beetle follows 'solemn as he,' and the Mole prepares the grave. The Dormouse is 'cold and forlorn,' the Gnat winds his 'shrill little horn,' and the Moth, grieving for 'the loss of a sister,' bends over the body and kisses it. These details create a vivid, orderly procession, with each insect contributing to the ritual. The Spider appears 'in his mourning so black' but is frightened away by the Glow-worm's fire—a moment of dark humor that breaks the solemnity. The Grub leaves his nut-shell and brings the Book-worm, who writes the epitaph. This section demonstrates how the poem uses specific insect behaviors (e.g., the Glow-worm's light, the Spider's web) to advance the narrative.

The Burial and the Epitaph

The burial is described in precise, almost mechanical terms: the corpse is embalmed 'at the set of the sun,' enclosed in a case spun by the Silk-worm, and placed in a coffin made of myrtle and jessamine. Six butterflies support the pall. The epitaph, written by the Book-worm, is a quatrain that echoes the opening lines: 'At this solemn spot, where the green rushes wave, / Here sadly we bent o'er the Butterfly's grave.' It promises that daisies and violets will bloom, and the lily will 'discover her bosom of snow.' The Grasshopper will sing 'under the leaf, in the evenings of spring.' The epitaph thus transforms the grave into a site of natural beauty and ongoing remembrance, softening the finality of death.

Structure and Repetition

The poem is built on repetition and variation. The opening line 'For the soul of the Banquet, the Butterfly's dead' is echoed in the epitaph's 'At this solemn spot, where the green rushes wave.' The phrase 'green rushes wave' appears in both the narrative and the epitaph, linking the two sections. The poem also repeats the image of the Grasshopper mourning: first in the second stanza, then in the final line of the epitaph. This structural symmetry gives the poem a circular feel, returning to the same images and sounds. The consistent meter and rhyme reinforce the sense of a formal, ritualistic procession, appropriate for a funeral.

The Role of the Book-worm

The Book-worm is a curious figure: he is led by the Grub, weeps for his 'poor neighbour's unfortunate doom,' and writes the epitaph. This self-referential detail—a worm associated with books composing the poem's final words—suggests a meta-literary layer. The Book-worm's epitaph is the only text within the poem that is explicitly attributed to a character, and it serves as the poem's conclusion. This device may imply that the entire poem is the Book-worm's composition, or at least that the act of writing is part of the mourning process. The Book-worm's presence also connects the poem to the physical book itself, as he is a creature that lives among pages.

Readers should note that the poem is a sequel, and its full effect may depend on familiarity with The Butterfly's Ball and Grasshopper's Feast. The text is short—only a few stanzas—and can be read in one sitting. Pay attention to the repeated phrases and the way the poem balances grief with natural imagery. The epitaph, in particular, rewards close reading as it condenses the poem's themes of loss and renewal.

That rainy afternoon, the butterfly’s solemn procession felt almost unbearably quiet, a hush after the ball’s clamor. It made me think of other small deaths we memorialize. Later, I found myself turning to The Trial and Execution of the Sparrow for Killing Cock Robin — Reading Notes, and the same gentle gravity seemed to linger there, unasked for.