And the following must be about the same date—

"The pretty Daisy which doth show
Her love to Phœbus, bred her woe;
(Who joys to see his cheareful face,
And mournes when he is not in place)—
'Alacke! alacke! alacke!' quoth she,
'There's none that ever loves like me.'"

The Deceased Maiden's Lover—Roxburghe Ballads, i, 341.

I am not surprised to find that Milton barely mentions the Daisy. His knowledge of plants was very small compared to Shakespeare's, and seems to have been, for the most part, derived from books. His descriptions of plants all savour more of study than the open air. I only know of two places in which he mentions the Daisy. In the "l'Allegro" he speaks of "Meadows trim with Daisies pied," and in another place he speaks of "Daisies trim." But I am surprised to find the Daisy overlooked by two such poets as Robert Herrick and George Herbert. Herrick sang of flowers most sweetly, few if any English poets have sung of them more sweetly, but he has little to say of the Daisy. He has one poem, indeed, addressed specially to a Daisy, but he simply uses the little flower, and not very successfully, as a peg on which to hang the praises of his mistress. He uses it more happily in describing the pleasures of a country life—

"Come live with me and thou shalt see
The pleasures I'll prepare for thee,
What sweets the country can afford,
Shall bless thy bed and bless thy board.
. . . Thou shalt eat
The paste of Filberts for thy bread,
With cream of Cowslips buttered;
Thy feasting tables shall be hills,
With Daisies spread and Daffodils."

And again—

"Young men and maids meet,
To exercise their dancing feet,
Tripping the comely country round,
With Daffodils and Daisies crowned."

George Herbert had a deep love for flowers, and a still deeper love for finding good Christian lessons in the commonest things about him. He delights in being able to say—

"Yet can I mark how herbs below
Grow green and gay;"

but I believe he never mentions the Daisy.