To sport with Amaryllis in the shade

For months now I've had an amaryllis growing steadily, coming into bloom. And on seeing it first thing in the morning, the line pops into my head "...to sport with Amaryllis in the shade..."

So I'm thinking: classical myth featuring a shepherdess who creates a purdy flower for the man she loves - I associate the whole Amaryllis-sporting thing with a love poem - maybe even a seduction poem. Something Keats might have come up with, or Marvell. So when my amaryllis burst into flower (with gorgeous shimmering petals; Amaryllis derives from the Greek for sparkling), off I went to check the reference, first reaching for the-physical-books-that-aren't-yet-here, then asking The Google.

It's Lycidas. It's crippled-by-the-death-of-a-friend, grieving and mourning, Lycidas. The next line might as well be "He was my North, my South, my East and West".

Of course, thinking about it, the myth of Amaryllis has heartache and longing - and a happy ending. So I returned to Lycidas, and read on, until the final, resounding conclusion:

At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue:
Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.

Phew. Nothing like the sparkley-ness of life seeming possible again

:-)