We might expect that English poets would have considered the butterfly especially from this point of view; and we do have a few examples.

Perhaps the best known is that of Coleridge.
The butterfly the ancient Grecians made The soul's fair emblem, and its only name-- But of the soul, escaped the slavish trade Of earthly life! For in this mortal frame Ours is the reptile's lot, much toil, much blame, Manifold motions making little speed, And to deform and kill the things whereon we feed.
The allusion to the "name" is of course to the Greek word, _psyche_, which signifies both soul and butterfly.

Psyche, as the soul, was pictured by the Greeks as a beautiful girl, with a somewhat sad face, and butterfly wings springing from her shoulders.

Coleridge tells us here that although the Greeks likened the soul to the butterfly, we must remember what the butterfly really is,--the last and highest state of insect-being--"escaped the slavish trade of earthly life." What is this so-called slavish trade?
It is the necessity of working and struggling in order to live--in order to obtain food.

The butterfly is not much of an eater; some varieties, indeed, do not eat at all.