The Parliament of Bees
Encyclopedia
The Parliament of Bees is the best-known of the works of the Elizabethan
dramatist, John Day
. It was probably written sometime between 1608 and 1616, but not published till 1641.
The poem was entered into the Stationers' Register
on March 23, 1641, and printed later in the year by the bookseller William Lee. The quarto
is titled "The Parliament of Bees, with their Proper Characters. Or a beehive furnished with twelve honeycombs, as pleasant as profitable. Being an allegorical description of the actions of good and bad men in these our days. By John Day, sometimes student of Caius College
in Cambridge
." (Spellings modernized.) The quarto is dedicated to George Butler.
The poem also exists in manuscript, identified as Lansdowne MS. 725. The manuscript's title is "An old manuscript containing the Parliament of Bees, found in a hollow tree in a garden in Hibla, in a strange language, and now faithfully translated into easy English verse by John Day, Cantabridg." (Spellings modernized.) The manuscript is prefaced with Epistles to The Reader and to William Augustine. The printed text and the manuscript show significant differences.
Some of the twelve characters had been published prior to 1641. Two, nos. 4 and 5, were printed in a volume titled The Noble Soldier (1634), attributed to "S. R." Five others, nos. 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9, appeared under different names in The Wonder of a Kingdom (1636), attributed to Thomas Dekker.
The Parliament of Bees is a series of dialogues on the subject of "the doings, the births, the wars, the wooings" of bees. The bees hold a parliament under Prorex, the Master Bee, and various complaints are preferred against the humble-bee, the wasp
, the drone
and other offenders. This satirical
allegory
of affairs ends with a Royal Progress by Oberon, who distributes justice to all.
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
dramatist, John Day
John Day (dramatist)
John Day was an English dramatist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Life:He was born at Cawston, Norfolk, and educated at Ely. He became a sizar of Caius College, Cambridge, in 1592, but was expelled in the next year for stealing a book...
. It was probably written sometime between 1608 and 1616, but not published till 1641.
The poem was entered into the Stationers' Register
Stationers' Register
The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England...
on March 23, 1641, and printed later in the year by the bookseller William Lee. The quarto
Book size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
is titled "The Parliament of Bees, with their Proper Characters. Or a beehive furnished with twelve honeycombs, as pleasant as profitable. Being an allegorical description of the actions of good and bad men in these our days. By John Day, sometimes student of Caius College
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college is often referred to simply as "Caius" , after its second founder, John Keys, who fashionably latinised the spelling of his name after studying in Italy.- Outline :Gonville and...
in Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
." (Spellings modernized.) The quarto is dedicated to George Butler.
The poem also exists in manuscript, identified as Lansdowne MS. 725. The manuscript's title is "An old manuscript containing the Parliament of Bees, found in a hollow tree in a garden in Hibla, in a strange language, and now faithfully translated into easy English verse by John Day, Cantabridg." (Spellings modernized.) The manuscript is prefaced with Epistles to The Reader and to William Augustine. The printed text and the manuscript show significant differences.
Some of the twelve characters had been published prior to 1641. Two, nos. 4 and 5, were printed in a volume titled The Noble Soldier (1634), attributed to "S. R." Five others, nos. 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9, appeared under different names in The Wonder of a Kingdom (1636), attributed to Thomas Dekker.
The Parliament of Bees is a series of dialogues on the subject of "the doings, the births, the wars, the wooings" of bees. The bees hold a parliament under Prorex, the Master Bee, and various complaints are preferred against the humble-bee, the wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
, the drone
Drone (bee)
Drones are male honey bees. They develop from eggs that have not been fertilized, and they cannot sting, since the worker bee's stinger is a modified ovipositor .-Etymology:...
and other offenders. This satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
of affairs ends with a Royal Progress by Oberon, who distributes justice to all.