THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

THE FAIRIES OF SHAKESPEARE 207
are given a place. In " The Eight Nimphall," the
ornaments and costumes, the jewels and furniture neces-
sary for the wedding of a fairy, so much a descendant
of the fairies of A Midsummer Night's Dream that
. . . by her smalnesse you may finde,
That she is of the Fayry kinde,l4?
occupy the entire attention of the poet.
All the wealth of the insect kingdom and the vegetable
kingdom is exhausted to furnish the trousseau of Tita,
a subject of Queen Mab, under which name the Titania
of A Midsummer Night's Dream may be conjectured to
have reached a final diminution. One needs only to ob-
serve the wedding buskins and the bride's bed to discover
to what lengths Drayton has carried the floral and garden
connections of Shakespeare's fairies. The former
. . . shall be of the Lady-Cow :
The dainty shell vpon her backe
Of Crimson strew'd with spots of blacke;
Which as she holds a stately pace,
Her Leg will wonderfully grace.148
But for the Bride-bed, what were fit,
That hath not beene talk'd of yet.
Of leaues of Roses white and red,
Shall be the Couering of her bed:
The Curtaines, Valence, Tester, all,
Shall be the flower Imperiall,
And for the Fringe, it all along
With azure Harebels shall be hung:
Of Lillies shall the Pillowes be,
With downe stuft of the B~tterflee.~~~
f4? Page 75.
148 Page 78, 11. 100-105.
Page 79, 11. 121-130.