Summary

"The Death of the Moth" begins with the author musing over the difference between "night moths" and "day moths." She explains that "moths that fly by day are not properly to be called moths" because they do not inspire the same sense of excitement in their observers as night moths do (1). The author describes these sensations as "the pleasant sense of dark autumn nights and ivy-blossom which the commonest yellow-underwing asleep in the shadow of the curtain never fails to rouse in us" (1). She compares the daytime moths to butterflies as well, claiming that they are neither "gay" nor "somber" (1). These comparisons precede the author's announcement that she was one day watching a moth during the day. She says that despite her assertions about the "character" of daytime moths, this one "seemed content with life" (1).

The author explains that she was watching the moth...