98 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



youth, Fidele, the assumed name of Imogen in dis- 

 guise: 



I '11 sweeten thy sad grave : thou shalt not lack 

 The flower that 's like thy face, pale primrose. 1 



Perdita, in "The Winter's Tale," 2 mentions 



Pale primroses that die unmarried 



Ere they can behold bright Phoebus in his strength. 



Shakespeare appreciated the delicate hue and per- 

 fume of this flower. He seems to be alluding to 

 both qualities when he makes Hermia touch Helena's 

 memory by the following words : 



And in the wood, where often you and I 

 Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie. 3 



Other English poets speak of the flower as "the 

 pale," or "the dim." Milton writes: 



Now the bright star, day's harbinger 

 Comes dancing from the East and leads with her 

 The flow'ry May, who, from her green lap, throws 

 The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. 



And again, Thomas Carew: 



Ask me why I send you here 

 The firstling of the infant year? 



1 "Cymbeline" ; Act IV, Scene II. 



'Act IV, Scene III. 



8 "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; Act I, Scene I. 



