the poetry df flowers. 
225 
THE GARLAND. 
BY PRIOR. 
The pride of every grove I chose, 
The violet sweet, the lily fair, 
The dappled pink and blushing rose, 
To deck my charming Chloe’s hair. 
At morn the nymph vouchsafed to place 
Upon her brow the various wreath ; 
The flowers less blooming than her face, 
The scent less fragrant than her breath 
The flowers she wore along the day: 
And every nymph and shepherd said. 
That in her hair they look’d more gay 
Than glowing in their native bed. 
Undress’d at evening, when she found 
Their odours lost, their colours past; 
She changed her look, and on the ground 
Her garland and her eye she cast. 
That eye dropp’d sense distinct and clear, * 
As any Muse’s longue could speak, 
When from its lid a pearly tear 
Ran trickling do-vn her beauteous cheek. 
15 
