John Clapham (historian and poet) to Katherine Duncan-Jones' summary, "it locates the Narcissus myth in England, the 'Fortunate Island', presided over by a Virgin Queen. In a palace in a wood Love proffers Ovidian advice to Narcissus about how to win over the woman he loves, however moody she may be. But Narcissus is carried off on a galloping horse called 'blind Lust', falls in love with the nymph Echo, and after a frustrating dialogue with her is soon drowned in the river of Self-Love and metamorphosed into the yellow flower that still bears his name." Most academic interest in the work derives from its
Narcissus (plant) laurel and hyacinth. Although there is no clear evidence that the flower's name derives directly from the Greek myth, this link between the flower and the myth became firmly part of western culture. The narcissus or daffodil is the most loved of all English plants, and appears frequently in English literature. Many English writers have referred to the cultural and symbolic importance of "Narcissus"). No flower has received more poetic description except the rose and the lily, with poems by authors from John Gower, Shakespeare, Milton (see Roman culture, above), Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats. Frequently the poems deal with self-love