J1099

My Cocoon tightens - Colors tease -I’m feeling for the Air -A dim capacity for WingsDemeans the Dress I wear -

A power of Butterfly must be -The Aptitude to flyMeadows of Majesty impliesAnd easy Sweeps of Sky -

So I must baffle at the HintAnd cipher at the SignAnd make much blunder, if at lastI take the clue divine -

c. 1866                    1890

The metamorphosis of the butterfly is treated here as the metamorphosis of the poet. Poetic inspiration—to “take the clue divine”—is conceived as an alternative form of resurrection.