The Sun and Fog contested 1
The Government of Day－
The Sun took down his Yellow Whip
And drove the Fog away－
The Government of Day－
The Sun took down his Yellow Whip
And drove the Fog away－
(F.1248/J.1190)
[1] Sun: sun-fern, a plant with whip-shaped unrolled brown fronds. Fog: a general name for moss in Scotland. "Lime is the mortal enemy of all sorts of fog or moss (OED n.1 2)."
[2] Government of Day: control of the ground; control of the nation.
[3] Whip: shape of the sun-fern; a hint on the Whig party.
[4] drove, away: sun-fern prefers sunshine but the moss not.
In English it is known as the Pale Mountain Polypody, Mountain Polypody, and Sun Fern, names referring to the high and fully-exposed-to-the-light situations in which it delights. . . . Fronds scattered, erect, five to eighteen inches high, sharp-pointed, spear-head shaped, delicate-textured, covered with small hairs.——The British Ferns (1857)