A nun demure, of lowly port;
Or sprightly maiden, of Love's court;
In thy simplicity the sport
Of all temptations;
Queen in crown of rubies drest,
A starveling in a scanty vest,
Are all, as seems to suit the best
My appellations.
A little cyclops with one eye
Staring to threaten and defy
That thought comes next—and instantly
The freak is over,
The shape will vanish—and behold,
A silver shield with boss of gold
That spreads itself some fairy bold
In fight to cover.
Bright flower! for by that name at last
When all my reveries are past
I call thee, and to that cleave fast,
Sweet, silent creature
That breathst with me the sun and air,
Do thou as thou art wont repair
My heart with gladness and a share
Of thy meek nature.
"Daisies smell-less yet most quaint" is a line from the flower-song in "The Two Noble Kinsmen," written by John Fletcher and Shakespeare.[37]
[37] Act I, Scene I.
Milton speaks of
Meadows trim with daisies pied
and Dryden pays a tribute to which even Chaucer would approve:
And then a band of flutes began to play,
To which a lady sang a tirelay;
And still at every close she would repeat
The burden of the song—"The Daisy is so sweet!
The Daisy is so sweet!"—when she began
The troops of Knights and dames continued on.