Bees, Honey, Poetry, Poems

Let the wax raise
green statues, let the honey
drip in infinite tongues, let the ocean be a big comb
and the Earth a tunic of flowers, let the World
be a cascade, magnificent hair, unceasing
growth of Beedom.

Pablo Neruda

Bees, honey and creative expression

The bees and their honey have inspired many poets to create beautiful poems and songs ever since Homo Sapiens began keeping bees and tasted Sweet Honey. Here I would like to show bee poems created by famous world poets in the course of human history.
Thanks to Internet most of the poems on this website could be found with the help of Google.

Please send me poems on bees and honey from famous poets around the world for publishing them on this site with a mail to info@bee-hexagon.net

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

My honey! These two words are now world famous. These words are as old as the human civilization. Already in the first writen poems in human civilization honey was used as the metaphor of love.

ANCIENT SUMER

Our oldest written records come from the civilization near the river Euphrates, what is now southern Iraq. They were written on clay tablets . In the Songs of Songs, written around 2000 BC, honey was used for the first time as the synonym of love by the extatic bride of the king Shu Sin,

here are excerpts from the first 5 songs:
Honey my Love

ANCIENT EGYPT

In ancient Egyptian poetry honey was used also as a symbol of love. In the few poems written between 1100 and 2000 BC and transmitted into our times honey is mentioned twice.
Read here excerpts of the book Love Songs of the New Kingdom, by John L. Foster, 1992

Beekeeping in ancient Egypt, image courtesy Kenneth Stein

from Love Songs of the New Kingdom, Egypt

Your love has penetrated all within me
Like honey plunged into water,
Like an odor which penetrates spices.

When her little sycamore begins to speak
The murmor of its leaves
Drips honey in the ear
Its fragrant words taste sweet
Her own hand, as soft and delicate as lotus.

ANCIENT CHINA

The book of songs (Shijing), around 1000 BC, the oldest collection of Chinese poetry there is a verse My Honey Pie

From the Book of Songs
(Shijing) 1000 BC

O, my honey pie,
Let me kiss your lips;
Kiss, kiss, and kiss,
Don’t be shy,
Let me kiss your rose-like lips!

ANCIENT INDIA

THE VEDAS
In ancient India honey was worshiped in many scriptures. In the Vedas, created 1000-1500 BC we find in the Rig Veda.

Rig Veda 1:90:6-8
Let every wind that blows drop honey
Let the rivers and streams recreate honey
Let all our medicines turn honey
Let the dawn and evening be full of honey
Let the dark particles be converted to honey
Our nourisher, this sky above, be full of honey
Let our trees be honey
Let the Sun be honey
Let our cows secrete honey

Also from the Rig-Veda
My tongue hath honey at the tip, and sweetest honey at the root.
Thou yieldest to my wish and will, and shalt be mine and only mine.
My coming in is honey sweet, and honey sweet my going forth;
My voice and words are sweet: I fain would be like honey in my look
Around thee have I girt a zone of sugar-cane to banish hate
That thou may'st be in love with me, my darling, never to depart.

The DHAMMAPADA
The Dhammapada are the first Buddhist scriptures, written in verse in 3 BC, based on the oral teaching of the Buddha two centuries before that. In Chapter 4 on the Flowers the Buddha teaches Like the Bee and the Flower.

Like the Bee and the Flower
Let the wise man live
in the flower of his village,
like the bee, gently taking flowers’ honey,
but not harming the blossom
and it’s colour and scent

The Buddha

FROM THE TATHAGATARBHA SUTRA

The Tathagatarbha Sutra (The Sutra on Buddha nature) is one of the most important Buddhist Sutras, originally dating in India in BC times.

The Buddha nature of sentient beings
Is like the honey in a cave or tree.
The entanglement of ignorance and tribulation
Is like the swarm of bees
That keep one from getting to it.
For the sake of all beings,
I expound the true Dharma with skilful means,
Removing the bees of egocentric mind states
Revealing the Buddha nature.
Endowed with eloquence that knows no obstacle,
I preach the Dharma of sweet dew,
Compassionately relieving sentient beings,
Everywhere helping them to true enlightenment.

Courtesy Holly Sierra

KALIDASA
Later, about 400 AC the poet Kalidasa wrote the play in verses Vikromarvasie (The Hero and the Nymph). There bees and honey are mentioned many times, always in connection with love. Here is an excerpt from act I of the play
Drunken with Honey

SARAHA

In the 8th century AC the Tantra master and poet Saraha used the bees and honey in connection with Tantra buddhist practice in his poem

The Royal Song

ANCIENT GREECE

The ancient Greeks had a highly developped beekeeping and worshiped honey in many poems.

HOMER
Homer is the first Greek poet, he wrote his works aroung 800 BC. In his Hymn to Hermes he writes about the bee priestesses Melissae, here in the translation of Miss Jane Harrison
Apollo Speaks

ANACREON
The poem about Eros and the bees is attritubuted to Anacreon 570 BC-488 BC
Eros and the Bees

EPIGRAMS
Epigrams are short poems created by the ancient Greeks. The bees and honey are mentioned about 200 times in different poems, here is a selection of 4 of them.
Bees and Honey in Epigrams

ANCIENT ISRAEL

was regarded as the land where milk and honey flow. In the old testament of the bible honey has been mentioned 52 times. Especially famous are
The poetic words of King Solomon about honey

The Words of King Solomon in the old Testament

The Song of Solomon 4:11
Your lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
The Song of Solomon 5:1
I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse:
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice;
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat,
O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
Proverb 24:13
My son, eat honey, for it is good;
The droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:
So you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; when you have found it,
Then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.

ANCIENT ROME

continued the traditions of the Greeks and developed further beekeeping. The Roman poet Virgil 29 BC, wrote a big poem about the bees in his famous work "The Georgics" translated in verse by the English poet John Dryden
Bees and Honey in the Georgics

From part 4 of the Georgics

In their mouth reside their genial powers
They gather children from the leaves and flowers.
Thus make they kings to fill the regal seat
And thus their little citizens create
And waxen cities build, the palaces of state
And oft on rocks their tender wings they tear
And sink beneath the burdens which they bear:
Such a rag of honey in their bosom beats;
And such a zeal they have for flowry sweets.

THE ARAB CIVILIZATION

Abu Dhu'ayb al-Hudhali, a pre-islamic poet, around 600 AD wrote descriptive poetry
About Bees and Honey

MEAD IN NORSE, GERMANIC AND CELTIC MYTHOLOGY
Mead is an alcoholic honey drink. In Norse and Germanic mythology, the Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry is a mythical beverage made out of honey and blood with such magic properties that whoever drinks it is bestowed with the gifts of wisdom and poetry and can achieve immortality.
The poetic works of Norse and Germanic Mythology are dated back to 900 to 1000 A.D. but were recorded considerably later.
On the Mead of Poetry

In Celtic Mythology laid down the Book of Taliesen originating in the 10th century AD there is a song Kanu y Med or
Song of Mead

THE KALEVALA
The Kalevala epic poem is the national epic of Finland. It originates in early times of the beginning of Finnish history and was transmitted orally for many generations before it was written down in its present form in 1835. In this epic bees and honey play an major role and the healing virtues of honey are worshiped
The Healing of Lemminkainen

SU S HI
1037-1101, a famous Chinese Song-dynasty poet and painter, often known as Su Dongpo, wrote
Song of the honey-eating old man

RUMI
1207-1273, the most famous Persian poet, a Sufi spiritual mystic. In several of his poems and sayings he connects
Bees, Honey and Love

HAFEZ
lived in Persia between 1200 and 1340. Here are some examples of his poems, where honey was mentioned
Honey and Love

VIDYAPATI
1374-1448, is a famous Indian poet. In his love poems he often mentions bees and honey. Here an example of the poem
The Spring

KAMALAKANTA
1769-1821, was a Indian Brahmin priest and in his poems workships often the Brahmin Gods. In a poem on the black bee, he worships the goddess Brahmari Devi
The Black Bee of my Mind is Drawn in Sheer Delight

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1564-1616, has used the word bee 12 times, and honey 47 times. Most famous is the speech of the Bishop of Canterburry in the play Henry V, Act 1, scene 2
The Speech of the Bishop of Canterburry

PIERRE de RONSARD

(1521-1585) a French poet compared himself to the bee wrting to

Jean Passerat

JOHN DAY
1574 – 1638 was an English poet.
His most famous poem was published after his death in 1641 was The Parliament of Bees
A Satyrical Bee Allegory

NATSOK RANGDRÖL

b. 1608, an important Tibetan Buddhist Lama wrote:

A colourful flower

attracts bees with humming songs.

Though they cannot remain together long,

if the flowers are not distroyed by pests

and the bees not chased away by hailstorms

the bees can sing and drink the flowers' heart.

May I see my guru again and again.

BASHO
Matsuo Basho, b. 1694, is considered to be the finest writer of Japanese Haiku. The structure of Haiku reflects the simplicity of meditative life. Here is how he experiences

The Bee

How reluctantly
the bee emerges from the deep
within the peony

Koson, 1877-1945

GAVRILA DERZHAVIN
1743-1816 is a famous Russian poet who wrote the famous poem
Little Bee

PHILIP FRENEAU
1752-1832, a notable American poet, called the poet of the American revolution wrote
On A Honey Bee

THOMAS MOORE
1779-1852, is a famous Irish poet and songwriter, he wrote
When the First Summer Bee

SUNTHORN PHU
1786 - 1855, is a famous Thai poet, honoured by UNESCO as a great world poet. He wrote
Two love poems with bees

VICTOR HUGO
1802 - 1885, was a famous French poet. He wrote a pamphet against Napoleon, who embroidered his cloak with bees
The Imperial Cloak

EMILY DICKENSON
1830-1886, a famous American poet, mentioned in several of her poems
The Bees

RUDYARD KIPLING
1865 - 1936, a famous English writer and poet, awarded with Nobel prize of literature wrote the poem
The Bee Boys Song

HENRY VAN DYKE
1852-1933, famous American poet and clergyman, wrote a beatiful poem on the bees
The White Bees

ANTONIO MACHADO
1875-1939, is another famous Spanish poet who mentions often bees and honey in his poems, here an exerpt from his poem
Last Night

KHALIL GIBRAN
1883-1931, is a Lebanese poet who lived mostly in the USA. He wrote 1923 a poem about honey and the bees in his most famous poetical work, The Prophet
On Pleasure

OSSIP MANDELSTAM
1891-1938, a famous Russian poet, wrote a beaitiful poem about joy and the honey bee:
From Joy's Sake from My Hands

FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA
1898-1936, a famous Spanish poet, wrote 1918 a beautiful poem about honey, El Canto del miel,
tranlsated here into English by the bee scientists David Roubik and Patricia Vit

The Song of Honey

FERNANDO PESSOA
1888-1935, a famous Portuguese poet, wrote a poem, "O Guardador de Rebanhos",
translated into English on www.beelore.com
God is the Hive and the Honeybees

PAUL VALERY
1871-1945, a famous French poet, wrote the poem
The Bee

NAZIM HIKMET
1902-1963, is a famous Turkish poet, wrote about his poetry linking it for ever with honey
About My Poetry

VICTORIA SACKVILLE-WEST
1892-1962, an English author and poet, wrote the poem
The Bee Master

PABLO NERUDA
1904-1973, a world famous poet from Chile and a Nobel Prize winner, wrote one of the most beatuful poems on bees, Oda a la Abeja here presented in the translation of the bee scientists Patricia Vit and David Roubik
Ode to the Bee

ALAN ALEXANDER MILNE

1882-1956, wrote in 1926 WINNIE THE POOH, about a bear and its adventures with the bees and their honey

Bears Like Honey

MARY OLIVER

1935-2019, an American poet and Pulitzer prize winner wrote many poems on nature and a poem about bees named

Hum

What is this dark hum among the roses?
The bees have gone simple, sipping,
that’s all. What did you expect? Sophistication?
They’re small creatures and they are
filling their bodies with sweetness, how could they not
moan in happiness? The little
worker bee lives, I have read, about three weeks.
Is that long? Long enough, I suppose, to understand
that life is a blessing. I have found them — haven’t you? —
stopped in the very cups of the flowers, their wings
a little tattered — so much flying about, to the hive,
then out into the world, then back, and perhaps dancing,
should the task be to be a scout-sweet, dancing bee.
Bee's love is almost too fierce to endure,
nuzzling like that into the blouse of the rose.
And the fragrance, and the honey, and of course
the sun, the purely pure sun, shining,
all the while, over all of us.

GEORGE MARSH

An English poet, wrote in 1997 in Salting the Air

summer’s end nears—

now the slow bee allows

stroking of fur

courtesy Thomas Schiewer

image courtesy www.completebeehives.com