The Moth

Let the white moth go by,
Because some wandering spirit it may be 
That loves the kindly earth so close and dear,
It cannot break the bonds that keep it here. 
The day's for us and all the daylight cheer; 
Twilight's for delicate things more glad than we. 
Moths have their right as well as birds to fly; 
Let the white moth go by. 

Let the white moth go by: 
It has a mate whose wings shine silverly 
Somewhere beneath the moonlight, calling it 
To join its airy dances, and to knit 
Two joys in one, for very full must be 
The little lives that two suns cannot see — 
Because we love our childhood, you and I, 
And would not let one delicate memory die, 
And know our kinship to all lives that are, 
To every dewdrop and each falling star — 
Let the white moth go by.