quote · Legacy record
Have you seen but a bright lily grow, Before rude hands have touched it? Have you marked but the fall of the snow, Before the soil hath smutched it? Have you felt the wool of the beaver? Or swan’s down ever? Or have smelt o’ the bud of the briar, Or the nard in the fire? Or have tasted the bag of the bee? O, so white! O, so soft! O, so sweet is she!
Have you seen but a bright lily grow, Before rude hands have touched it? Have you marked but the fall of the snow, Before the soil hath smutched it? Have you felt the wool of the beaver? Or swan’s down ever? Or have smelt o’ the bud of the briar, Or the nard in the fire? Or have tasted the bag of the bee? O, so white! O, so soft! O, so sweet is she!
Approximate author period: c. 1605 AD · renaissance
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Ben Jonson
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1605 AD · renaissance
author lifetime midpoint (1573–1637)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921) (1921 AD)
Page 335 · printed citation: Ben Jonson (A Celebration of Charis). · compiler notes excluded
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.