GREEN SKY WITH WHITE STARS

“Fresh smitten by the morning ray,
When thou art up, alert and gay,
Then, cheerful Flower! my spirits play
With kindred gladness:
And when, at dusk, by dews oppressed
Thou sink'st, the image of thy rest
Hath often eased my pensive breast
Of careful sadness.”

               William Wordsworth, To the Daisy First Poem,1802

Last week, as the weather was hotting up after the recent long spell of cold and rain, the grass fields were becoming luscious green and speckled with white daisies.

On our walk, a little girl in a bright yellow frock ran to the young woman sitting at a bench under the big leafy maple tree at the edge of the field. The woman was looking intently at her phone. The girl had a handful of these white flowers. She put them all in woman’s lap and exclaimed “Mummy, I have picked some stars for you.”  Both started laughing and hugging.  They soon became busy in making a daisy chain.

I was impressed by the child’s imaginative metaphor. The large field WAS indeed looking like a vast expanse of green sky with bright stars. Not only that, just like stars they were arranged randomly in clusters like constellations! The daisies in grass fields are a common sight but I have never perceived the whole scenario in this wonderful, exalted way.

I always loved these small bright flowers. I keep delaying mowing of our lawn just to keep the daisies blooming for a bit longer. These flowers close their petals at sunset and open looking fresh in the morning when the sun comes up. That is why someone looking fresh and full of energy in the morning (after a good night sleep) is said to look “as fresh as a daisy”. “Whoops-a-daisy” is a common exclamation used after a stumble or a gaffe. It comes from a phrase used in 1800s “ups-a-daisy” used to encourage a child to get up after a fall.

The name daisy itself comes from the old English "daes eage," meaning "day's eye." The long white petals opening like eye lashes revealing the bright yellow circular disc in the centre.

In fact daisy is a mysterious flower. Each flower consists of hundreds of flowers. Each white petal is a flower in itself and so is each pinpoint yellow grain in the central disc! Daisy is a composite flower just like The Sunflower to which it is closely related.

In various cultures Daisies have come to symbolize innocence, purity, freshness, demureness, beauty and humility. No wonder William Wordsworth penned four poems exclusively on Daisies!

 “A nun demure of lowly port;

Or sprightly maiden of Love’s court,

In thy simplicity the sport

Of all temptations;

A queen in crown of rubies drest;

A starveling in a scanty vest;

Are all, as seems to suit thee best

Thy appellations.”

William Wordsworth, To the Same Flower Second Poem,1802