{
 "id": "henry-van-dyke-jr/the-white-bees",
 "title": "The White Bees",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Henry van Dyke Jr.",
 "poet_slug": "henry-van-dyke-jr",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "The Poems of Henry Van Dyke",
 "book_slug": "poems",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 31,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1920,
  "venue": "The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1920)",
  "note": "Taken from the 1920 collected edition. That is the printing this text comes from, not the poem's first appearance: the volume gathers work published from 1897 onward, and which earlier book or magazine printed this poem first has not been established here.",
  "uncertain": true,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/poemsofhenryvand00vandrich"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/henry-van-dyke-jr_poetry",
  "file": "poetry.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16229",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16134",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10679",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3525",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9372",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29314",
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43094",
   "https://archive.org/details/poemsofhenryvand00vandrich",
   "https://archive.org/details/buildersotherpoe00vandrich",
   "https://archive.org/details/toilingoffelixan00vandiala",
   "https://archive.org/details/musicotherpoems0000henr_c7v6",
   "https://archive.org/details/poemsnowfirstcol00vanduoft",
   "https://archive.org/details/songsoutofdoors0000vand",
   "https://archive.org/details/thyseaisgreatour00vandiala",
   "https://archive.org/details/chosenpoems0000vand"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 153,
  "n_stanzas": 21,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 94,
  "max_indent": 5
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "Long ago Apollo called to Aristæus, youngest of the shepherds,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Saying, “I will make you keeper of my bees.”",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Golden were the hives and golden was the honey; golden, too, the music",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where the honey-makers hummed among the trees.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Happy Aristæus loitered in the garden, wandered in the orchard,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Careless and contented, indolent and free;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Lightly took his labour, lightly took his pleasure, till the fated moment",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "When across his pathway came Eurydice.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then her eyes enkindled burning love within him; drove him wild with longing",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For the perfect sweetness of her flower-like face;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Eagerly he followed, while she fled before him, over mead and mountain,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "On through field and forest, in a breathless race.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "But the nymph, in flying, trod upon a serpent; like a dream she vanished;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Pluto’s chariot bore her down among the dead!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Lonely Aristæus, sadly home returning, found his garden empty,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "All the hives deserted, all the music fled.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Mournfully bewailing⁠—“Ah, my honey-makers, where have you departed?”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Far and wide he sought them over sea and shore;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Foolish is the tale that says he ever found them, brought them home in triumph⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Joys that once escape us fly for evermore.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Yet I dream that somewhere, clad in downy whiteness, dwell the honey-makers,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In aerial gardens that no mortal sees:",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "And at times returning, lo, they flutter round us, gathering mystic harvest⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So I weave the legend of the long-lost bees.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Who can tell the hiding of the white bees’ nest?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Who can trace the guiding of their swift home flight?",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Far would be his riding on a life-long quest:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Surely ere it ended would his beard grow white.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Never in the coming of the rose-red Spring,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Never in the passing of the wine-red Fall,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "May you hear the humming of the white bee’s wing",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Murmur o’er the meadow ere the night bells call.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Wait till winter hardens in the cold gray sky,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wait till leaves are fallen and the brooks all freeze,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Then above the gardens where the dead flowers lie,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Swarm the merry millions of the wild white bees.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Out of the high-built airy hive,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Deep in the clouds that veil the sun,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Look how the first of the swarm arrive;",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Timidly venturing, one by one,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Down through the tranquil air,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Wavering here and there,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Large, and lazy in flight⁠—",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Caught by a lift of the breeze,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Tangled among the naked trees⁠—",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Dropping then, without a sound,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Feather-white, feather-light,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "To their rest on the ground.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Thus the swarming is begun.",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Count the leaders, every one",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Perfect as a perfect star",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Till the slow descent is done.",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Look beyond them, see how far",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Down the vistas dim and gray,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Multitudes are on the way.",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Now a sudden brightness",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Dawns within the sombre day,",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Over fields of whiteness;",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "And the sky is swiftly alive",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "With the flutter and the flight",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Of the shimmering bees, that pour",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "From the hidden door of the hive",
    "indent": 5
   },
   {
    "text": "Till you can count no more.",
    "indent": 5
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Now on the branches of hemlock and pine",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thickly they settle and cluster and swing,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bending them low; and the trellised vine",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the dark elm-boughs are traced with a line",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of beauty wherever the white bees cling.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Now they are hiding the wrecks of the flowers,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Softly, softly, covering all,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Over the grave of the summer hours",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Spreading a silver pall.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Now they are building the broad roof ledge,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Into a cornice smooth and fair,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Moulding the terrace, from edge to edge,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Into the sweep of a marble stair.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wonderful workers, swift and dumb,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Numberless myriads, still they come,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thronging ever faster, faster, faster!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Where is their queen? Who is their master?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The gardens are faded, the fields are frore⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "What is the honey they toil to store",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the desolate day, where no blossoms gleam?",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Forgetfulness and a dream!",
    "indent": 2
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "But now the fretful wind awakes;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I hear him girding at the trees;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He strikes the bending boughs, and shakes",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The quiet clusters of the bees",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To powdery drift;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "He tosses them away,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "He drives them like spray;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "He makes them veer and shift",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Around his blustering path.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "In clouds blindly whirling,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "In rings madly swirling,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Full of crazy wrath,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "So furious and fast they fly",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They blur the earth and blot the sky",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In wild, white mirk.",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "They fill the air with frozen wings",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And tiny, angry, icy stings;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They blind the eyes, and choke the breath,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They dance a maddening dance of death",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Around their work,",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Sweeping the cover from the hill,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Heaping the hollows deeper still,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Effacing every line and mark,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And swarming, storming in the dark",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Through the long night;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Until, at dawn, the wind lies down",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Weary of fight;",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "The last torn cloud, with trailing gown,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Passes the open gates of light;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the white bees are lost in flight.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Look how the landscape glitters wide and still,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bright with a pure surprise!",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "The day begins with joy, and all past ill,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Buried in white oblivion, lies",
    "indent": 2
   },
   {
    "text": "Beneath the snow-drifts under crystal skies.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "New hope, new love, new life, new cheer,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Flow in the sunrise beam⁠—",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "The gladness of Apollo when he sees,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Upon the bosom of the wintry year,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The honey-harvest of his wild white bees,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Forgetfulness and a dream!",
    "indent": 2
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Listen, my beloved, while the silver morning, like a tranquil vision,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Fills the world around us and our hearts with peace;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Quiet is the close of Aristæus’ legend, happy is the ending⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Listen while I tell you how he found release.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Many months he wandered far away in sadness, desolately thinking",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Only of the vanished joys he could not find;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Till the great Apollo, pitying his shepherd, loosed him from the burden",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of a dark, reluctant, backward-looking mind.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then he saw around him all the changeful beauty of the changing seasons,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "In the world-wide regions where his journey lay;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Birds that sang to cheer him, flowers that bloomed beside him, stars that shone to guide him⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Traveller’s joy was plenty all along the way!",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Everywhere he journeyed strangers made him welcome, listened while he taught them",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Secret lore of field and forest he had learned:",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "How to train the vines and make the olives fruitful; how to guard the sheepfolds;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "How to stay the fever when the dog-star burned.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Friendliness and blessing followed in his footsteps; richer were the harvests,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Happier the dwellings, wheresoe’er he came;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Little children loved him, and he left behind him, in the hour of parting,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Memories of kindness and a god-like name.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "So he travelled onward, desolate no longer, patient in his seeking,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Reaping all the wayside comfort of his quest;",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Till at last in Thracia, high upon Mount Hæmus, far from human dwelling,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Weary Aristæus laid him down to rest.",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then the honey-makers, clad in downy whiteness, fluttered soft around him,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Wrapt him in a dreamful slumber pure and deep.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "This is life, beloved: first a sheltered garden, then a troubled journey,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Joy and pain of seeking⁠—and at last we sleep!",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ]
 ]
}