FLEA
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.
"I cannot raise my worth too high;
Of what vast consequence am I!"
"Not of the importance you suppose,"
Replies a Flea upon his nose;
"Be humble, learn thyself to scan;
Know, pride was never made for man."
Gay—The Man and the Flea.
A blockhead, bit by fleas, put out the light,
And chuckling cried, "Now you can't see to bite."
In Greek Anthology.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a District styled E. C.,
That a monster dwelt whom I came to know
By the name of Cannibal Flea,
And the brute was possessed with no other thought
Than to live—and to live on me.
Thos. Hood, Jr.—The Cannibal Flea. Parody on Poe's Annabel Lee.
| note =
| topic = Flea
| page = 277
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>I do honour the very flea of his dog.
Ben Jonson—Every Man in his Humour. Act IV. Sc.4.
Then mimick'd my voice with satyrical sneer,
And sent me away with a Flea in my ear.
Mochus—Idyll LX. Eunica. | author = Beaumont and Fletcher
| work = Love's Cure. Act III. Sc. 3.
| note =
| topic = Flea
| page = 277
}}
{{Hoyt quote
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| text = <poem>Panurge auoyt la pulee en l'oreille.
Panurge had a flea in his ear.
Rabelais—Pantagruel. Ch. XXXI. Simon Forman—Notes to Marriage of Wit and Wisdom.
So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum.
Thus every poet in his kind
Is bit by him that comes behind.
Swift—Poetry. A Rhapsody.
| seealso = (See also De Morgan)
FLIRTATION
(See also Coquetry)
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>I assisted at the birth of that most significant word flirtation, which dropped from the most beautiful mouth in the world, and which has since received the sanction of our most accurate Laureate in one of his comedies.
Chesterfield—The World. No. 101. (Lady Frances Shirley referred to. Poet-Laureate, COLLEY ClBBER.}})
| topic = Flirtation
| page = 277
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>Flirtation, attention without intention.
Max O'Rell—John Bull and his Island.
| note =
| topic = Flirtation
| page = 277
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>From a grave thinking mouser, she was grown
The gayest flirt that coach'd it round the town.
Pitt—Fable. The Young Man and His Cat.
Ye belles, and ye flirts, and ye pert little things,
Who trip in this frolicsome round,
Pray tell me from whence this impertinence springs,
The sexes at once to confound?
Whitehead—Song for Banelagh.
FLORENCE
Ungrateful Florence! Dante sleeps afar,
Like Scipio, buried by the upbraiding shore.
FLOWERS
(Unclassified)
Sweet letters of the angel tongue,
I've loved ye long and well,
And never have failed in your fragrance sweet
To find some secret spell,—
A charm that has bound me with witching power,
For mine is the old belief,
That midst your sweets and midst your bloom,
There's a soul in every leaf!
M. M. Ballou—Flowers.
Take the flower from my breast, I pray thee,
Take the flower, too, from out my tresses:
And then go hence; for, see, the night is fair,
The stars rejoice to watch thee on thy way.
Third Poem in Bard of the Dimbovitza; Rumanian Folksongs. Collected by Helens Vacaresco. English by Carmen Sylva and Alma Strettell. (Quoted by Galsworthy, on fly leaf of The Dark Flower.}})
| topic = Flowers
| page = 277
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them.
Henry Ward Beecher—Star Papers. A Discourse of Flowers.
| note =
| topic = Flowers
| page = 277
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like, the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.
Henry Ward Beecher—Star Papers. A Discourse of Flowers.
| note =
| topic = Flowers
| page = 277
}}
{{Hoyt quote
| num =
| text = <poem>Flowers are Love's truest language; they betray,
Like the divining rods of Magi old,
Where precious wealth lies buried, not of gold,
But love—strong love, that never can decay!
Park Benjamin—Sonnet. Flowers, Love's Truest Language.
Thick on the woodland floor
Gay company shall be,
Primrose and Hyacinth
And frail Anemone,
Perennial Strawberry-bloom,
Woodsorrel's pencilled veil,
Dishevel'd Willow-weed
And Orchis purple and pale.
