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Jonquil And Fleur-de-lys

Jonquil was a shepherd lad,

White he was as the curded cream,

Hair like the buttercups he had,

And wet green eyes like a full chalk

His teeth were as white as the stones that

Down in the depths of the sun-bright river,

And his lashes danced like a

With drops on the gauzy wings that

His lips were as red as round ripe cherries,

And his delicate cheek's and his rose-pink

Were stained with the colour of dog-rose

When they lie on the snow like a crimson

His feet were all stained with the cowslips and

To amber and verdigris,

And through his folds one day did

The young prince

Fleur-de-lys was the son of the king.

He was as white as an onyx stone,

His hair was curled like a daffodil ring,

And his eyes were like gems in the queen's blue

His teeth were as white as the white pearls

Round the thick white throat of the queen in the hall,

And his lashes were like the dark silk

That she binds her yellow hair

His lips were as red as the red

The king's bright dagger-hilt that deck,

And pale rose-pink as the amethyst

Were his delicate cheeks and his rose-pink

His feet were all shod in shoes of gold,

And his coat was as gold as a blackbird's bill is,

With jewel on jewel manifold,

And wrought with a pattern of golden

When Fleur-de-lys espied

He was as glad as a bird in May ;

He tripped right swiftly a-down the hill,

And called to the shepherd boy to

This fell out ere the sheep-shearing,

That these two lads did sport and toy,

Fleur-de-lys the son of the king,

And sweet Jonquil the shepherd

And after they had played awhile,

Thereafter they to talking fell,

And full an hour they did

While each his state and lot did

For Jonquil spake of the little sheep,

And the tender ewes that know their names,

And he spake of his wattled hut for sleep,

And the country sports and the shepherds'

And he plucked a reed from the edge that

The river bank, and with his

Made a pipe, with a breath like the singing

When they flute to their loves in a musical

And he told of the night so long and

When he lay awake till he heard the

Of the goat-foot god coming over the hill,

And the rustling sound as he passed through the

And Fleur-de-lys told of the king and the court,

And the stately dames and the slender pages,

Of his horse and his hawk and his mimic fort,

And the silent birds in their golden,

And the jewelled sword with the damask

That should be his in his fifteenth spring ;

And the silver sound that the gold horns made,

And the tourney lists and the tilting

And after that they did

For mirth and sport, that each should

The other's clothes, and in this

Make play each other's parts to

Whereon they stripped off all their clothes,

And when they stood up in the sun,

They were as like as one white

On one green stalk, to another

And when Jonquil as a prince was

And Fleur-de-lys as a shepherd lad,

Their mothers' selves would not have

That each the other's habit

And Jonquil walked like the son of a

With dainty steps and proud haut look ;

And Fleur-de-lys, that sweet youngling,

Did push and paddle his feet in the

And while they made play in this wise,

Unto them all in haste did run,

Two lords of the court, with joyful cries,

That long had sought the young king's

And to Jonquil they reverence

And said, " My lord, we are come from the king,

Who is sore vexed that thou hast

So far without a

Then unto them said Fleur-de-lys" You do mistake, my lords, for

That I am the son of the king, and

Is sweet Jonquil, my

Whereat one of these lords replied," Thou lying knave,

I'll make thee

Such saucy words." But Jonquil cried," Nay, nay, my lord, 'tis even

Whereat these lords were sore distressed,

And one made answer bending knee," My lord the prince is pleased to jest."But Jonquil answered, " Thou shalt

Sure never yet so strange a

As this before was seen,

That a shepherd was thought the son of a king,

And a prince a shepherd boy to have been.xxvii" Now mark me well, my noble lord,

A shepherd's feet go bare and cold,

Therefore they are all green from the sward,

And the buttercup makes a stain of gold.xxviii" That I am Jonquil thus thou shalt know,

And that this be very

If his feet be like the driven snow,

And mine like the amber and

He lifted up the shepherd's

That clothed the prince, and straight did

That his naked feet all under his

Were whiter than the driven

He doffed the shoes and the clothes of

That he had gotten from Fleur-de-lys,

And all the rest was as white as milk,

But his feet were like amber and

With that they each took back his own,

And when his second change was done,

As a shepherd boy was Jonquil

And Fleur-de-lys the king's true

By this the sun was low in the heaven,

And Fleur-de-lys must ride away,

But ere he left, with kisses seven,

He vowed to come another day.

Taken from the New Adelphi Library edition of 'Selected Poems' by Lord Arthur Douglas Published by Martin Secker

Pages 20 - 26

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Lord Alfred Douglas

Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945) was a British poet and journalist best known as the lover of Oscar Wilde.
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