Who does not remember the Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
in the halcyon days of their childhood? These toyful trifles, "light
as air," doubtless suggested the _Emperor's Rout_. Do not start,
expectant reader; this is no downfall of a royal dynasty, no burning
of palaces, or muster of rebel ranks--no scamper "all on the road from
Moscow"--or _sauve qui peut_ at Waterloo; but a pleasant, little
verse tale of the Emperor Moth inviting the _haut ton_ of the Moths
to a splendid rout--with notes intended as a tempting introduction to
the fascinating study of entomology.
There are four Engravings: 1.--The Invitation, with the Emperor and the
Empress, and the Buff-tip Moth writing the Cards.--2. The Dance, with
the Sphinx Hippophaës, the Pease Blossom, the Mouse, the Seraph,
Satellite, Magpie, Gold Spangle, Foresters, Cleap Wings, &c.--3. The
Alarm.--4. The Death's Head Moth. These are beautifully lithographed by
Gauci. Their colouring, after Nature, is delightfully executed: the
finish, too, of the gold-spangle is good, and the winged brilliancy of
the company are exquisite pieces of pains-taking--sparkling as they are
beneath a trellis-work rotunda, garlanded with roses, and lit with a
pine-pattern lustre of perfumed wax. What a close simile could we draw
of life from these dozen dancing creatures in their rainbow hues--their
holiday and every-day robes--flitting through life's summer, and then
forgotten. Yet how fares it with us in the stream of life!
By the way, this trifle, though so prettily coloured, is in price what
was once called "a trifle"--yet what kings and queens have often
quarrelled for--half-a-crown.
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