2 APRIL 1954, Page 15

SHAKESPEARE'S DAFFODILS The usual interpretation of " take the winds

of March with beauty " seems to be that the winds were very taken with the daffodils but the New Temple Shakespeare goes further- " The winds of March are not only capti- vated; they are quelled." It is asking for trouble to question such an authority, but I should have thought it was a mistake to asso- ciate " quelled " with daffodils and that in any case the winds of March were much too rough to be " captivated." Is it not possible that Shakespeare meant simply that every year the beauty of the first daffodils takes March's breath away ?—Yours faithfully,