Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Sloe (Prunus Spinosa)
From the white-blossomed sloe, my dear Chloe requested,
A sprig her fair breast to adorn.
No! by Heav’n, I exclaim’d, may I perish,
If ever I plant in that bosom a thorn.
John O’Keefe—The Thorn.