How she observes him in his daily walk,

Still bending towards him her small slender stalk;

How when he down declines, she droops and mourns,

Bedewed, as 'twere with tears, till he returns;

And how she veils her flowers when he is gone,

As if she scornèd to be lookèd on

By an inferior eye; or did contemn

To wait upon a meaner light than him.

When this I meditate, methinks the flowers

Have spirits far more generous than ours,