44 Tall Bearded Iris 



Then called she [Dame Nature] all Flowers that grew in field, 

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Upon the awful Thistle she beheld, 



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And said, "In field go forth and fend the lave, 

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And let no Nettle vile, and full of vice, 

 Her fellow to the goodly Fleur-de-lis." 



Dunbar: The Thistle and the Rose. 



Behold, O man, that toilsome pains dost take, 

 The flow'rs, the field, and all that pleasant grows, 



The lily, lady of the flow'ring field, 

 The Flower-de-luce, her lovely paramour, 

 Bid thee to them thy fruitless labors yield, 

 And soon leave off this toilsome weary stoure. 



Spenser: Fairy Queen. 



The garden like a lady fair was cut, 



That lay as if she slumbered in delight, 



And to the open skies her eyes did shut; 



The azure fields of heaven were 'sembled right 



In a large round set with flow'rs of light; 



The Flowers-de-Luce and the round sparks of dew 



That hung upon their azure leaves, did show 



Like twinkling stars that sparkle in the ev'ning blue. 



Fletcher: The Garden 



