Buzz Words: Poems About Insects

by Kimiko Hahn (editor), Howard Schechter (Editor)

Given that insects vastly outnumber us (there are approximately 200 million insects for every human) it is no surprise that there is a rich body of verse on the creeping, scuttling, flitting, stinging things with which we share our planet.

Many cultures have centuries-old traditions of insect poetry. In China,where noblewomen of the Tang dynasty kept crickets in gold cages-countless songs were written in praise of these 'insect musicians'. The haiku masters of Japan were similarly inspired, though spread their net wider to include less prepossessing bugs such as houseflies, fleas and mosquitoes. In the West, poems about insects date back to the ancient Greeks, and insects feature frequently in European literature from the 16th century onwards.

The poets collected here range from Donne, Marvell, Keats and Wordsworth; Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Christina Rossetti, to Elizabeth Bishop, Mary Oliver, Ted Hughes, Paul Muldoon and Alice Oswald. In translation there is verse by - amongst others - Meleager and Tu Fu, Ivan Turgenev, Victor Hugo, Paul Valéry, Pablo Neruda, Antonio Machado and Xi Chuan.

Bees, butterflies and beetles, cockroaches and caterpillars, fireflies and dragonflies, ladybirds and glowworms--the miniature creatures that adorn these pages are as varied as the poetic talents that celebrate them.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies, Animals, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2021

About the author

Kimiko Hahn is the author of seven poetry collections. The Unbearable Heart won the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award. She has received numerous grants, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award. She teaches at Queens College/The City University of New York.

Reviews

[Kendall Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Everyman’s library pocket poets books are wonderful to read simultaneously with my other novels. It helps change up the pace, I can stop where I please, and I love the variety. “Buzz words” (poems about insects) was lovely to take my time on here and there. I love that the book focuses on a topic, rather than a singular author. The poems ranged from time periods and authors, & I found a few new favorites. Even the sections aligned well. I want to continue to grow my pocket poet collection and “Buzz words” was a great start to reading them.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

“By sunbreak, we’ve woven the first line of a new myth” Mihaela Moscaliuc

[K H · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 review: 5 stars
I enjoyed the last third-quarters more than the first quarter of this collection
A beautiful, beautiful book if you get the Everyman's library pocket poets edition!
A wide variety of enjoyable works

My favourite poem:
The Fly - Walter De La Mare

How large unto the tiny fly
Must little things appear!-
A rosebud like a feather bed,
Its prickle like a spear;

A dewdrop like a looking-glass,
A hair like golden wire;
The smallest grain of mustard-seed
As fierce as coals of fire;

A loaf of bread, a lofty hill;
A wasp, a cruel leopard;
And specks of salt as bright to see
As lambkins to a shepherd

[Puj Doo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of several different authors and styles, but all about bugs.
I’ve walked away with a few ideas:
1. I prefer poems from the 1800’s over the style of 1900s and forwards.
2. People who write poems about fleas and mosquitoes are weird.
3. This poetry book is really good for finding what kind of poetry you like, because it has such a wide selection.

[meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

since the dawn of humanity we’ve all just been thinkin about bugs huh

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of these were fun to read

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I don't normally read many thematic collections of poetry, this one caught my interest and was certainly worth a read. These are the poems that stood out for me:

Harryette Mullen: from "Urban Tumbleweed"
William Roscoe: "The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast"
Jane Hirshfield: "Like an Ant Carrying Her Bits of Leaf or Sand"
Ranjit Hoskote: "Moth"
Vachel Lindsay: "The Spider and the Ghost of the Fly"
Nina Cassian: "The Caterpillar"
Muriel Rukeyser: "St. Roach"
Ellen Bass: "Files"

[Zea · Rating 5 out of 5]

i don’t know if something is wrong with me that makes me cry every time i read a good poem about anything by anyone, or maybe it is something that is right with me that causes it. either way i cried probably a hundred times while reading this book, usually at work in front of a bunch of kids most likely wondering what in the world was happening to their teacher

[Sylvia Snowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful collection of poetry, from all eras and many cultures. Some of my favorite poets, such as Ted Hughes, Robert Frost, and Christina Rossetti--to poets I have never read before, some young enough to be my grandchildren.

Enjoy!

[Toad Soup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now THIS is quality, “New Orleans Palmetto Bug” is amazing

[Ella j · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m scared of bugs and I still liked this

[mike f. · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm more of a modern poet kinda guy so some of these i enjoyed and others not so much

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute book, loved reading the buzzing words of poems on insects 🪲

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of poetry about insects.

[J.C Hawke · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love bugs 10/10

[Karas · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"Bombing the swarm"

[Elizabeth Lozano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely extraordinary selection of poems about insects, spanning several centuries and continents, An absolute delight; I highly recommend it.

[☆꧁༒ ꩇׁׅ݊ꪱׁׅᥣׁׅ֪ꪱׁׅᝯׁɑׁׅ֮ ༒꧂☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justice for my sweet little dancing Snail:
✨ 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓅𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝒿𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓃𝒶𝒾𝓁 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒶𝒹𝓋𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒,
✨ 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝒶𝓏𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒶 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝓊𝑒𝓉 𝒹𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒;
✨ 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓁𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝒹,
✨ 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝒹.

What a lovely collection of poems. Truly well selected and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had me feeling bad for cockroaches!

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite a nice little collection on the theme of insects. There's a pretty wide array of styles, so I think this will have something everyone can enjoy.

My favourite pieces were Windows and Mirrors, Fable, New Orleans Palmetto Bug, and Clegs and Midges.

[📜🖋️ 🤎 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a poem about bees having sex.