Ephemera are tiny, gauzy-winged insects that live for only a day, and the speaker describes them dancing through May breezes, skimming streams, and savoring clover and wild roses until sunset. Their whole life is full of light and movement, but it ends almost as soon as it begins, as they fold their delicate wings and drop gently into death. The speaker feels tenderness and admiration for these small creatures, along with a quiet sadness. The mood is wistful and contemplative rather than bitter or fearful. In the closing lines, the speaker compares the insects’ single day to human life: our time also passes quickly, and we too fold our hands and pass with the setting sun. The comparison makes the poem feel intimate and gently philosophical, as though the speaker is thinking aloud about how brief all lives really are.
The Ephemera — Summary
Creatures of gauze and velvet wings, With life for one brief day, Dancing and flitting where the breezes fling The sweets of blooming May;
Skimming the stream where the wild thyme grows, You dart with keen delight. Only to die when the sweet wild rose Gives perfume to the night.
Weary at last, when the day is done, Of the breeze and clover's breath. Folding your delicate wings with the sun, You gently drop to death;
Glimmering wings and a few short hours Were yours in sweet delight. Living for a day in the world of flowers. And then — everlasting night.
Creatures of gauze and velvet wings, With a day of gleams and flowers, Who knows — in the light of eternal things — Your life is less than ours?
Weary at last, it is ours, like you, When our brief day is done. Folding our hands, to say adieu. And pass with the setting sun.