This article is the first sustained analysis of a half-forgotten Elizabethan poem entitled "The Garden Plot." This allegorical poem, set in a flower garden, was written by a servant to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, around 1579-1582. Its intention was to dissuade Queen Elizabeth I from marrying Francis, Duke of Anjou. The article situates the poem in the context of a hotly contested literary battle between pro- and anti-Anjou councillors who used poetry and pageantry in an attempt to force the queen's hand.
