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torious, the patricians’ Myrtle withered. As a charm to ensure a
successful journey, Roman pedestrians were accustomed to procure
and wear a Myrtle wreath. At Temnos, in Asia Minor, there
is a statue in Myrtle-wood consecrated by Pelops to Venus, as
a thank-offering for his marriage with Hippodamia. After the
death of Hippolytus, Phaedra, maddened with passionate grief,
pricked innumerable small holes in the leaves of a Myrtle with a
hair-pin. The geographer Pausanias states that this Myrtle was in
his time to be seen near the tomb of Phaedra at Troezen. The
same writer relates that a Myrtle which had been the hiding place
of a hare was selected by Diana to mark the site of a new city.
With the Jews, the Myrtle is a symbol of peace, and is often
so referred to in the Old Testament, notably by Nehemiah and
the prophets Zechariah and Isaiah. A variety, called the Broadleaved
Jew ’s Myrtle, is held in especial veneration, and is frequently
used in Hebrew religious ceremonies. Branches of this and
other Evergreens are used in the eredtion of their tents at the Feast
of Tabernacles. At Aleppo, these tabernacles are made by fastening
to the corner of a wooden divan four slender posts as supports to a
diaper-work of green Reeds on all sides, leaving only a space in front
for the entrance, which on the outside is covered with fresh Myrtle.
Jewish maidens were wont to be decked with a bridal wreath of
Myrtle; but this wreath was never worn by a widow, or by
divorced women. This custom is still retained in Germany, where
the bride is adorned with a Myrtle wreath. The Oriental nations
are extremely partial to the Myrtle, and there is a tradition among
the Arabs that, when Adam was expelled from Paradise, he
brought the Myrtle with him, as being the choicest of fragrant
flowers.—— It is a popular belief in Somersetshire, that, in order to
ensure its taking root, it is necessary when planting a sprig of
Myrtle, to spread the skirt of your garment, and to look proud.
In the same county, there is a saying that “ the flowering Myrtle is
the luckiest plant to have in your window, water it every morning,
qnd be proud of it.” ^'In Greece, there is a superstitious notion
that no one should pass near an odoriferous Myrtle without gathering
a perfumed bunch ; indifference to the attractions of Myrtle being
considered a sign of impotence and death, In the allegories of
Azz Eddin, the Rose says that the Myrtle is the prince of odoriferous
plants. Rapin calls the Myrtle “ of celestial race,” and in
his poem has the following lines on i t :—-
“ When once, as Fame reports, the Queen of Love
In Ida’s valley raised a Myrtle grove,
Young wanton Cupids danced a summer’s night
Round the sweet place by Cynthia’s silver light,
Venus this charming green a one prefers.
And this of all the verdant kind is hers 5
Hence the bride’s brow with Myrtle wreaths is graged,
When the long-wished-for night is come at la s t;
And Juno (queen of nuptjal inysteries)
Makes all her torches of these fragrant trees,
Hence in Flysian fields are Myrtles said
To favour lovers with their friendly shade,
There Phaedra, Procris (ancient poets feign),
And Friphyle still of love complain.
Whose unextinguished flames e’en after death remain.
Nor is this all the honour Myrtles claim :
When from the Sabine war Tudertus came,
He wreathed his temples from the Myrtle grove,
Sacred to Triumph as before to Love.”
To dream of seeing a fine Myrtle portends many lovers and a
legacy. I f a married person dreams of Myrtle, it prognosticates a
second marriage. A similar dream for the second time portends a
second marriage to a person who has also been married before.
Myrtle seen in a dream denotes, as a rule, a numerous family,
wealth, and old age.
N A R C I S S U S .—The white, or Poet’s, Narcissus owes its
origin to a beautiful youth of Bceotia, of whom it had been foretold
he should live happily until he beheld his own face. Caressed and
petted by the Nymphs, and passionately loved by the unhappy
Echo, he slighted and rejeííied their advances; but one day, when
heated by the chase, he stopped to quench his thirst in a stream,
and in so doing beheld the reflecSlion of his own lovely features.
Enamoured instantly of his own beauty, he became spell-bound to
the spot, where he pined to death. Ovid relates how the flower
known by his name sprang from the corpse of Narcissus
“ As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run,
And trickle into drops before the sun.
So melts the youth, and languishes away ;
His beauty withers, and his limbs decay ;
And none of those attractive charms remain,
To which the slighted Echo sued in vain.
She saw him in his present misery,
Whom, spite of all her wrongs, she grieved to see ;
She answered sadly to the lover’s moan,
Sighed back his sighs, and groaned to every groan,
‘ Ah, youth belov’d in vain ! ’ Narcissus cries ;
‘ Ah, youth beloved in vain ! ’ the Nymph replies.
‘ Farewell ! ’ says he the parting sound scarce fell
From his faint lips but she replied, ‘ Farewell ! ’
Then on th’ unwholesome earth he gasping lies.
Till death shuts up those self-admiring eyes.
To the cold shades his flitting ghost retires,
And in the Stygian waves itself admires.
For him the Naiads and the Dryads mourn,
Whom the sad Echo answers in her turn.
And now the sister-nymphs prepare his urn ;
When, looking for his corpse, they only found
A rising stalk, with yellow blossoms crown’d.”— Addison.
The cup in the centre of the flower is fabled to contain the tears of
Narcissus. Virgil alludes to this (Geòrgie IV.) when, in speaking
of the occupations of bees, he says : “ Some place within the house
the tears of Narcissus,” Milton also refers to this fancy in the
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