“A pitcher of mignonette
In a tenement’s highest casement
Queer sort of flower-pot—yet
That pitcher of mignonette
Is a garden in heaven set
To the little sick child in the basement,
The pitcher of mignonette.
In the tenement’s highest casement.”
Henry Cuyler Bunner, Airs from Arcady and Elsewhere (1884).
Migonnet, a fairy king, who wished to marry the princess brought up by Violenta, the fairy mother.
Of all dwarfs he was the smallest. His feet were like an eagle’s, and close to the knees, for legs he had none. His royal robes were not above half a yard long, and trailed one-third part upon the ground. His head was as big as a peck, and his nose long enough for twelve birds to perch on. His beard was bushy enough for a canary’s nest, and his ears reached a foot above his head.—Comtesse D’Aulnoy, Fairy Tales (“The White Cat,” 1682).
Mikado (of Japan), the hero of Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera “The Mikado.” The plot turns upon the complications brought about the Mikado’s severe laws against flirting:
“So he decreed in words succint,
That all who flirted, leered or winked,
Unless connubially linked,
Should forthwith be beheaded.”
Mi´lan (The duke of), an Italian prince, an ally of the Lancastrians.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).
Milan Decree, a decree of Napoleon Bonaparte, dated Milan, December 27, 1807, declaring “the whole British empire to be in a state of blockade, and prohibiting all countries from trading with Great Britain, or using any article made therein.”
*** As Britain was the best customer of the very nations forbidden to deal with her, this very absurd decree was a two-edged sword, cutting both ways.
Mildred, the bride, “fresh and fair as May,” whom Philip, the pastor, installs as Mistress of the Manse, in Josiah Gilbert Holland’s poem of that name (1874).
Mildmay (Frank), hero of sea-story bearing his name.—Frederick Marryatt.