< Page:Essays of Francis Bacon 1908 Scott.djvu
This page has been validated.

OF GARDENS

213

cowslip; flower-de-lices,[1] and lilies of all natures; rosemary-flowers; the tulippa; the double piony; the pale daffodil; the French honeysuckle; the cherry-tree in blossom; the dammasin[2] and plum-trees in blossom; the white thorn in leaf; the lilac-tree. In May and June come pinks of all sorts, specially the blush-pink; roses of all kinds, except the musk, which comes later; honeysuckles; strawberries; bugloss; columbine; the French marigold; flos Africanus;[3] cherry-tree in

  1. ↑

    ⁠"Now, my fair'st friend,
    I would I had some flowers o' the spring that might
    Become your time of -day;—and yours, and yours,
    That wear upon your virgin branches yet
    Your maidenhoods growing:—O Proserpina,
    For th' flowers now, that, frighted, thou lett'st fall
    From Dis's wagon! golden daffodils,
    That come before the swallow dares, and take
    The winds of March with beauty; violets dim,
    But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes
    Or Cytherea's breath; pale primroses,
    That die unmarried, ere they can behold
    Bright Phoebus in his strength,—a malady
    Most incident to maids; bold oxlips and
    The crown-imperial; lilies of all kinds,
    The flower-de-luce being one!"

    Shakspere. The Winter's Tale. iv. 3.

    Flower-de-lices. Since both Bacon and Shakspere refer to the flower-de-luce as a lily, it is clear that for them the iris had not yet wholly appropriated the name. Their fleur-de-lis may have been the same as Chaucer's, the Lilium Candidum, the common white lily. "His nekke whit was as the flour-de-lys," Chaucer writes of the singing friar. The Prologue. 238.
  2. ↑ Dammasin. The damson plum-tree. The damson is a small black or dark purple plum, the fruit of Prunus Communis, or Domestica. The particular variety, Damascena, was introduced in very early times into Greece and Italy from Syria.

    "Gloster. ⁠Mass, thou lovedst plums well, that wouldst venture so.
    Simpcox. ⁠Alas, good master, my wife desired some damsons,
    ⁠And made me climb, with danger of my life."

    Shakspere. II. King Henry VI. ii. 1.

  3. ↑ Flos Africanus. The Latin translation reads Flos Africanus, simplex et multiplex, and omits "the French marigold." It would seem then that by Flos Africanus, or 'African flower,' Bacon meant the African marigold (Tagetes Erecta); the French marigold is Tagetes Patula. Or possibly, the French marigold was called the
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.