Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Butterfly That Stamped

There was never a Queen like Balkis,
From here to the wide world's end;
But Balkis talked to a butterfly
As you would talk to a friend.



There was never a King like Solomon
Not since the world began;
But Solomon talked to a butterfly
As a man would talk to a man.




She was Queen of Sabea--
And he was Asia's Lord--
But they both of 'em talked to butterflies
When they took their walks abroad!




Rudyard Kipling
English Poet/Author
1865 - 1936

Here's a link to the entire short story of the same title.

Two additional Kipling poems that rate very high on my list of favorites:

The Female of the Species
The Betrothed


What about you?

What's your favorite Kipling verse?

5 comments:

  1. I like "If"... it is one I remember hearing often in the speech competitions held at Heiskell.

    "If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;"

    Good lines for thought :)

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  2. Yes, IF is a good one.

    I like the line about not losing your head ;-)

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  3. I adore Kipling. I think that one is missing from my (incomplete) collection of his works. Thanks for posting it!

    By the way: a guy from Blogger was trying to assist me with the downloading problem today. Let me know if you still have a problem--I hate to think I'm crashing anyone's computer! :)

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  4. Ah, Just So stories! They are big favorites in our family. My husband, who went to Heiskell long, long ago, still has a plaque of IF at his parents' house. If fact, that's where I first read the poem, and I still like it.

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  5. I had never read this particular short story, so I'm glad that photographing Springtime opened up more of Kipling.

    Futhermore, I'd like to edit the picture a little more and get the butterfly to pop....... instead of the the azalea blossoms that are too pink and overshadow him.

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