222 On the Campus 



waving on its slender stipe beneath the shade of some 

 great rock who can look into its delicate cerulean cup 

 again and not bethink him of the blue- veined eyelid sleep 

 that falls upon our human flowers! 



The cowslip is another common English flower painted 

 by Shakespeare to perfection. The meadows about old 

 Stratford church are yet to this day full of representa- 

 tives of this curious species. The cowslip is a primrose 

 but remarkable for orange-tinted spots decking the bases 

 of the petals. You may not see these markings unless 

 you pick the flower to pieces. Then when you hold the 

 petal up to the light the spot shines ruby red. Now 

 Shakespeare says, speaking of Queen Mab : 



"The cowslips tall her pensioners be; 

 In their gold coats spots you see; 

 These be rubies, fairy favors, 

 In those freckles live their savors; 

 I must go seek some dew-drops here, 

 And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear." 



A Midsummer-Night 's Dream, ii : i, 10. 



To understand all this we must remember that Queen 

 Elizabeth was in the habit of conferring upon her fa- 

 vorites certain monopolies of one sort or another. Men 

 so favored grew very rich and were of course the objects 

 of envy on the part of their neighbors. They were called 

 pensioners and, as the nouveaux riches generally, seem 

 to have been fond of display. 



The cowslips then were the pensioners of the fairy 

 queen. But imagine the poet holding up the petals of 

 this simple flower, holding them to the light, he could not 



