ire on both sides of her shead;
And with her countenance she hath acast
Wagging the w[=a]ton with each wynd and blast."

Stanza 21, 22.

Drayton, in the "Polyolbion," 15th Song, represents the Naiads engaged
in twining garlands for the marriage of Tame and Isis, and considering
that he--

"Should not be dressed with flowers to garden that belong
(His bride that better fitteth), but only such as spring
From the replenisht meads and fruitful pasture neere,"

they collect among other wild flowers--

"The Daysie over all those sundry sweets so thick
As nature doth herself, to imitate her right;
Who seems in that her pearle so greatly to delight
That every plaine therewith she powdereth to beholde."

And to the same effect, in his "Description of Elysium"--

"There Daisies damask every place,
Nor once their beauties lose,
That when proud Phoebus turns his face,
Themselves they scorn to close."

Browne, contemporary with Shakespeare, has these pretty lines on the
Daisy--

"The Daisy scattered on each mead and down,
A golden tuft within a silver crown;
(Fair fall that dainty flower! and may there be
No shepherd graced that doth not honour thee!)."

_Brit. Past._, ii. 3.

And the following must be about the same date--

"The pretty Daisy which doth show
Her love to Phoebus, 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. H