A preliminary sketch for the embroidered wall hangings designed for John Ruskin in the autumn of 1863. Burne-Jones described the design to Ruskin: 'The ground therof will be green cloth or serge, and a fence of roses will run all along behind the figures, about half-way up them, these roses to be cabbage and dog, red and white. All the ground will be powdered with daisies- only where Dido, Hypsipile, and Medea and Ariadne come there will be sea instead of grass, and shells instead of daisies. First will come Chaucer, looking very frightened according to the poem, and inditing the poem with a thrush ypon his shoulder-then comes Love, a little angry, bringing Alcestis; Chaucer in black, Love in red and white, and Alcestis in green.Then a tree and a vision of ladies begins, all to have scrolls with their name...'

Various names on the drawing may refer to women involved in the embroidery process, including Lucy Faulkner. The sketch on the front is incomplete and is continued on the verso.