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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
154
"With
weeping
flowers,
or
votive
cypress
wreath,
The
love-couch
of
his
everlasting
sleep."
And
Byron
describes
the
cypress
as,
"Dark
tree!
still
sad
when
other's
grief
is
fled,
The
only
constant
mourner
o'er
the
dead."
The
laurel,
used
for
classic
wreaths,
has
long
been
regarded
emblematical
of
renown,
and
Tasso
thus
addresses
a
laurel
leaf
in
the
hair
of
his
mistress:--
"O
glad
triumphant
bough,
That
now
adornest
conquering
chiefs,
and
now
Clippest
the
bows
of
over-ruling
kings
From
victory
to
victory.
Thus
climbing
on
through
all
the
heights
of
story,
From
worth
to
worth,
and
glory
unto
glory,
To
finish
all,
O
gentle
and
royal
tree,
Thou
reignest
now
upon
that
flourishing
head,
At
whose
triumphant
eyes
love
and
our
souls
are
led."
Like
the
rose,
the
myrtle
is
the
emblem
of
love,
having
been
dedicated
by
the
Greeks
and
Romans
to
Venus,
in
the
vicinity
of
whose
temples
myrtle-groves
were
planted;
hence,
from
time
immemorial,
"Sacred
to
Venus
is
the
myrtle
shade."
This
will
explain
its
frequent
use
in
bridal
ceremonies
on
the
Continent,
and
its
employment
for
the
wedding
wreath
of
the
Jewish
damsel.
Herrick,
mindful
of
its
associations,
thus
apostrophises
Venus:--
"Goddess,
I
do
love
a
girl,
Ruby
lipp'd
and
toothed
like
pearl;
If
so
be
I
may
but
prove
Lucky
in
this
maid
I
love,
I
will
promise
there
shall
be
Myrtles
offered
up
to
thee."
To
the
same
goddess
was
dedicated
the
rose,
and
its
world-wide
reputation
as
"the
flower
of
love,"
in
which
character
it
has
been
extolled
by
poets
in
ancient
and
modern
times,
needs
no
more
than
reference
here.
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