"Nor had I passed in silence the late-flowering daffodil, the stalks of the flexile acanthus, the pale ivy, or the myrtle that loves the shore."-DAVIDSON'S TRANSLATION. And again: "Litora myrtetis lætissima." The same poet, in his Pastorals, alludes to the fragrance of the Myrtle-blossom: "Et vos, ô lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte; Sic positæ quoniam suaves miscetis odores." "And you, ye laurels, I will crop; and thee, O myrtle, next in dignity to the laurel; for thus arranged you mingle sweet perfumes." So Davidson translates this passage: the words in Italics marking an interpolation, or rather a necessary explanation of the preceding adjective. Thomson compares a young beauty growing up in retirement to a Myrtle among the Apennines: Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty's self, A myrtle rises, far from human eye, And breathes its balmy fragrance o'er the wild." It was impossible that Spenser should omit the Myrtle in the garden of Adonis : 66 Right in the middest of that paradise There stood a stately mount, on whose round top A gloomy grove of myrtle-trees did rise, But like a garland compassed the height. And from their fruitful sides sweet gum did drop, That all the ground, with precious dew bedight, Threw forth most dainty odours and most sweet delight. And in the thickest covert of that shade But by the trees' own inclination made; Which knitting their rank branches, part to part, Fashion'd above within their inmost part, That neither Phoebus' beams could through them throng, FAIRY QUEEN, b. iii. c. 6. The Myrtle and the bay are continually coupled together by the poets, like the lily and the rose. And not even the bay itself has been more sweetly sung than this beautiful shrub : "And in the midst of all, cluster'd about With bay and myrtle, and just gleaming out, "Never look'd the bay so fit To surmount two eyes of wit, Nor the myrtle to be seen STORY OF RIMINI. Two white kerchief'd breasts between ; Nor the oak to crown a sword For a nation's rights restored." DESCENT OF LIBERTY. "A sacred hedge runs round it; and a brook, HUNT'S FOLIAGE: from Theocritus. There is another most exquisite passage about this shrub in Keats's Sleep and Poetry: "A myrtle, fairer than E'er grew in Paphos, from the bitter weeds Then let us clear away the choking thorns From round its gentle stem; let the young fawns, Yeaned in after-times, when we are flown, Find a fresh sward beneath it, overgrown With simple flowers." "Like a myrtle tree in flower Taken from an Asian bower, Where with many a dewy cup Nymphs in play had nursed it up." HUNT: from Catullus. It has been observed, that the Myrtle is consecrated to Venus. Drayton, in his Muses' Elysium, has assembled a number of emblematical wreaths: "The garland long ago was worn, As Time pleased to bestow it : The laurel only to adorn The conqueror and the poet. The palm his due who, uncontroll'd, On danger looking gravely, When fate had done the worst it could, Who bore his fortunes bravely. A wreath of vervain heralds wear, Amongst our garlands named, Being sent that dreadful news to bear, The sign of peace who first displays The olive wreath possesses; To Pan we dedicate the pine, On his swoln Bacchus placeth." NARCISSEE. NARCISSUS. HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Named from the youth Narcissus, who, as the poets tell us, was changed into this flower. Also named Daffodil. Some of the species are called Jonquils.-French, narcisse, jonquille.—Italian, narcisso, giunchiglia. THE TWO-flowered Narcissus *, Pale Daffodil, or Primrose-peerless, is of a pale cream-colour, with a yellow cup in the centre. It grows wild in England and many other parts of Europe, and flowers in April. Of the Common Daffodil there are many varieties: with a white flower, and yellow cup; a yellow flower, and deep golden cup; a double flower, with several cups, one within the other; Tradescant's Daffodil," which," says Mr. Martyn, 66 may well be entitled the Prince or Glory of Daffodils;" the Great Nonsuch; the Great Yellow Incomparable Daffodil, which, when double, is called by gardeners, Butter-and-egg Narcissus. It is called in the Dutch catalogues the Orange Phoenix, and is considered the handsomest of all the varieties. There are many others, which it is not necessary to specify. They mostly flower in April. This in France has many names: as, le narcisse sauvage; le faux narcisse; campane jaune [yellow bell]; aiau; aioult. In Italian, narcisso giallo [yellow narcissus], trombone giallo [yellow trumpet]. The Sweet-scented Narcissus, or Great Jonquil, is a *Italian, tazzettaccia. native of the South of Europe. Most of the species are fragrant; but this is the most powerful, and is often found too much so to be endured in a room. There is a species called the Hoop-petticoat Narcissus, called in France trompette de Meduse (Medusa's Trumpet), of which the cup is two inches long, very broad at the brim ; and is said to be formed like the old bell-hoop-petticoat formerly worn by ladies in this country. The Polyanthus Narcissus-called in France le narcisse de Constantinople; in Languedoc pissauleich: in Italy, tazzetta *—grows naturally in the East, and in many parts of Europe. There are more varieties of this than of any other species. That which is generally called the Cyprus Narcissus, with very double flowers, the outer petals white, the inner, some white and some orange, is the most beautiful of them all, and the most esteemed for blowing in glasses in Its scent is very agreeable, and less powerful than a room. that of the Jonquil. The White, or Poetical Narcissus,-called by the French janette des contois-has a snow-white flower, with a yellow cup in the centre, fringed on the border with a circle of bright purple. It is sweet-scented, a native of many parts of Europe, and flowers in May. There is a variety with double flowers. There is a species of Narcissus which is called the Lateflowering, and does not blow till autumn. The Common Jonquil is altogether yellow, as is also the Sweet-scented; but the latter has the cup somewhat deeper coloured than the petals. The preferable kinds are the Polyanthus Narcissus, the Jonquil, and the Poetical Narcissus; but any of them may * Tazzetta signifies a little cup; tazzettone, and tazzettaccia, imply a cup of a larger size. |