Asleep, my love?
What, dead, my dove?
O Pyramus, arise!
Speak, speak. Quite dumb?
Dead? Dead? A tomb
Must cover thy sweet eyes.
These lily lips,
This cherry nose,
These yellow cowslip cheeks
Are gone, are gone!…
His eyes were green as leeks…
With hands as pale as milk.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1. Flute, playing Thisbe, laments Pyramus’ death in a very comical style, first asking if he is asleep or dead. Then using a series of metaphors he gives us a humorous description of the dead Pyramus. He tells us of his “lily lips,” “cherry nose” and “cowslip cheeks.” However, his facial colors are mismatched, the lips should be cherry-colored, while cowslip yellow cheeks are a sign of someone who is diseased. He also uses a number of ill-chosen similes – “eyes were green as leeks” and “hands as pale as milk.”