PREFACE 



In adding another book to the enormous number 

 of works on Shakespeare, I beg indulgence for a 

 few words of explanation. 



Having been for many years an ardent and a 

 devoted student of Shakespeare, I discovered long 

 ago that there was no adequate book on the Eliza- 

 bethan garden and the condition of horticulture in 

 Shakespeare's time. Every Shakespeare student 

 knows how frequently and with what subtle appre- 

 ciation Shakespeare speaks of flowers. Shakespeare 

 loved all the simple blossoms that "paint the mead- 

 ows with delight" : he loved the mossy banks in 

 the forest carpeted with wild thyme and "nodding 

 violets" and o'er-canopied with eglantine and honey- 

 suckle; he loved the cowslips in their gold coats 

 spotted with rubies, "the azured harebells" and the 

 "daffodils that come before the swallow dares"; he 

 loved the "winking mary-buds," or marigolds, that 

 "ope their golden eyes" in the first beams of the 

 morning sun; he loved the stately flowers of stately 

 gardens the delicious musk- rose, "lilies of all 

 kinds," and the flower-de-luce; and he loved all the 



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