The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1. The fairy explains to Puck that she works for Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Her job is to collect dewdrops and hang them in every cowslip flower to make the natural world look bright and perfect for the Fairy Queen. The Fairy uses an eloquent metaphor to compare the dewrops to pearls. She refers to the cowslips as the Queen’s "pensioners" or bodyguards.