| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | Down in a Valley, by a Forest’s Side | | By William Browne (c. 1590–c. 1645) |
| | | DOWN in a valley, by a forest’s side, | |
| Near where the crystal Thames rolls on her waves, | |
| I saw a mushroom stand in haughty pride, | |
| As if the lilies grew to be his slaves; | |
| The gentle daisy, with her silver crown, | 5 |
| Worn in the breast of many a shepherd’s lass, | |
| The humble violet, that lowly down | |
| Salutes the gay nymphs as they trimly pass: | |
| Those, with many a more, methought, complained | |
| That Nature should those needless things produce, | 10 |
| Which not alone the sun from others gained, | |
| But turn it wholly to their proper use: | |
| I could not choose but grieve, that Nature made | |
| So glorious flowers to live in such a shade. | | | | |
|
|
