"The ladies left their measures at the sight, To meet the chiefs returning from the fight, And each with open arms embraced her chosen knight. Amid the plain a spreading laurel stood, The grace and ornament of all the wood; That pleasing shade they sought, a soft retreat From sudden April showers, a shelter from the heat. Her leafy arms with such extent were spread, So near the clouds was her aspiring head, That hosts of birds, that wing the liquid air, Perch'd in the boughs, had nightly lodging there: And flocks of sheep beneath the shade from far Might hear the rattling hail, and wintry war; From heaven's inclemency here found retreat, Enjoy'd the cool, and shunn'd the scorching heat; A hundred knights might there at ease abide, And every knight a lady by his side: The trunk itself such odours did bequeath That a Moluccan breeze to these was common breath. The lords and ladies here, approaching, paid Their homage, with a low obeisance made, And seem'd to venerate the sacred shade. These rites perform'd, their pleasures they pursue, With songs of love, and mix with measures new: Around the holy tree their dance they frame, And ev'ry champion leads his chosen dame. "I cast my sight upon the farther field, And a fresh object of delight beheld. For from the region of the west I heard New music sound, and a new troop apppear'd, Of knights and ladies mix'd, a jolly band, But all on foot they march'd, and hand in hand "The ladies dressed in rich symars were seen, Of Florence satin, flower'd with white and green, And for a shade betwixt the bloomy gridelin. The borders of their petticoats below Were guarded thick with rubies in a row; And every damsel wore upon her head Of flowers a garland blended white and red. Attired in mantles all the knights were seen, That gratified the view with cheerful green: Their chaplets of their ladies' colours were, Composed of white and red, to shade their shining hair. Before the merry troop the minstrels play'd, All in their masters' liveries were array'd, And clad in green, and on their temples wore The chaplets white and red their ladies bore. Their instruments were various in their kind, Some for the boy, and some for breathing wind; The sawtry, pipe, and hautboy's noisy band, And the soft lute trembling beneath the touching hand. A tuft of daisies on a flowery lea They saw, and thitherward they bent their way; To this both knights and dames their homage made, And due obeisance to the daisy paid. And then the band of flutes began to play, To which a lady sang a virelay; And still at every close she would repeat The burden of the song, _The daisy is so sweet_. _The daisy is so sweet_, when she begun The troop of knights and dames continued on. The concert and the voice so charm'd my ear, And sooth'd my soul, that it was heaven to hear."