Pope submitted the first two lines to Walsh in conjunction with the version in the text. "Quære, which of these couplets is better expressed, and better numbers? and whether it is better here to use thistle or thistles, lily or lilies, singular or plural? The epithet more happy refers to something going before." Walsh. "The second couplet [the text] is best; and singular, I think better than plural."
[55] Alludes to the device of the Scots' monarchs, the thistle, worn by Queen Anne; and to the arms of France, the fleur de lys. The two riddles are in imitation of those in Virg. Ecl. iii. 106:
Dic quibus in terris inscripti nomina regum
Nascantur flores, et Phyllida solus habeto.—Pope.
Thus translated by Dryden;
Nay, tell me first in what new region springs
A flow'r that bears inscribed the names of kings;
And thou shalt gain a present as divine
As Phœbus' self, for Phyllis shall be thine.
Either the commentators on Virgil have not hit upon the true solution of his riddles, or they are not at all superior to the parody of Pope.
[56] This is from Virg. Ecl. iii. 109:
Et vitula tu dignus, et hic.—Wakefield.
[57] Originally:
The turf with country dainties shall be spread,
And trees with twining branches shade your head.—Pope.