The bees argue, in their black ball,
A flying hedgehog, all prickles.
The man with gray hands stands under the honeycomb
Of their dream, the hived station
Where trains, faithful to their steel arcs,
Leave and arrive, and there is no end to the country.
Pom! Pom! They fall
Dismembered, to a tod of ivy.
So much for the charioteers, the outriders, the Grand Army!
A red tatter, Napoleon!
The last badge of victory.
The swarm is knocked into a cocked straw hat.
Elba, Elba, bleb on the sea!
The white busts of marshals, admirals, generals
Worming themselves into niches.
How instructive this is!
Elba , named twice, is the island on which Napoleon was exiled. Plath describes it as a ‘bleb’, which means a blister. This negative idea is designed to denigrate Napoleon. In reality the island has a warm Mediterranean climate and is not far from Corsica where Napoleon was born. His life there was busy socially and pleasant. However, after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to the windy, exposed and isolated Atlantic Island of St Helena. 

The Swarm