46 
Ben Jonson, with most of the old 2)oets, studiously jjieserved 
the sense of the name given to each flower: for instance, in¬ 
stead of daisy, a word which at first seems to mean nothing, 
he says “ bright day’s-eyes,” the flower having received that 
name from its habit of closing uj) in rainy weather and at 
night. Besides “ eye of the day,” it vvas also named y mar¬ 
guerite,” a pearl, under which title it is celebrated by 
Chaucer. 
In Feverere, whan that it was colde, 
Froste, snowe, haile, raine, hath dominacion. 
With changable elementes, and winds manifolde, 
Which hath of ground, flowre, herbe, jurisdicion, 
For to dispose aftir their correcion; 
And yet Aprillis, with his plesant showres, 
Dissolveth the snowe, and bringeth forth his flowres. 
Of whose invencion lovirs may be glade. 
For they bring in the Kalendis of Maie, 
And they, with countenance demure, meke. 
Owe worship to the lusty flowres alwaie. 
And in special, one called iye of the dale, 
The daisie, or flowir white and rede. 
And in Frenche called La belle Marguerite. 
Chaucer’s love of the daisy is most fully and beautifully ex¬ 
pressed in the “ Prologue to the Legende of goode Women,” 
one of the many gems we find in his works. He describes his 
great fondness for study, and how he delights in reading his 
“ olde bookes,” for which he has such faith and credence that 
no sport nor game can entice him away from them. 
