The Devil, George, and Rosie (p. 146; all spelling as in the book)
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She was complete in every particular, and all of the highest quality; she was a picture gallery, an anthology of the poets, a precipitation of all that has ever been dreamed of love: her goodly eyes like Saphyres shining bright, her forehead yvory white, her cheeks lyke apples which the sun hath rudded, her lips lyke cherryes charming men to bite, her brest lyke to a bowle of creame uncrudded, her paps lyke a lyllies budded, her snowie neck lyke to a marble towre; and all her body like a pallace fayre, ascending up, with many a stately stayre, to honours seat and chastities sweet bowre.

— John Collier

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "She was complete in every particular, and all of the highest quality; she was a picture gallery, an anthology of the poets, a precipitation of all that has ever been dreamed of love: her goodly eyes like Saphyres shining bright, her forehead yvory white, her cheeks lyke apples which the sun hath rudded, her lips lyke cherryes charming men to bite, her brest lyke to a bowle of creame uncrudded, her paps lyke a lyllies budded, her snowie neck lyke to a marble towre; and all her body like a pallace fayre, ascending up, with many a stately stayre, to honours seat and chastities sweet bowre." in the context of "The Devil, George, and Rosie (p. 146; all spelling as in the book)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "John Collier" (Quotes, Fancies and Goodnights (1951): All page numbers are from the mass market paperback edition published by Bantam Books (catalogue# F1703) in December 1957; there have been many editions of the book See the book's Wikipedia page for original publication details Won the 1952 International Fantasy Award ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About John Collier

John Collier (3 May 1901 – 6 April 1980) was a British-born writer and screenwriter best known for his short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker from the 1930s to the 1950s.