midday
And midway , be your water stream or pool , Cross willow-twigs , and massy boulders fling -- A line of stations for the halting wing To dry in summer sunshine , has it shipped A cupful aft , or deep in Neptune dipped . Plant cassias green around , thyme redolent , Full-flowering succory with heavy scent , And violet-beds to drink the channel 'd stream . And let your hives -LRB- sewn concave , seam to seam , Of cork ; or of the supple osier twined -RRB- Have narrow entrances ; for frosts will bind Honey as hard as dog-days run it thin : -- In bees ' abhorrence each extreme 's akin . Not purposeless they vie with wax to paste Their narrow cells , and choke the crannies fast With pollen , or that gum specific which Out-binds or birdlime or Idxan pitch -- '' -- And so on , and so on , until midday arrived , and Isabel with the claret and biscuits . She lingered while he ate : and when he had done he shut his Virgil , saying -LRB- in a tone which , though studiously kind , told me that she was not wholly forgiven -RRB- : `` Take the drum , Isabel , and give the lad his first lesson . It will not disturb me . '' She choked down a sob , passed the drum to me , and put the drumsticks into my hands .