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PHOEliiX
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VOLUME II 24, 1916. • • • • • • • • • • • • • FEBRUARY • • • • • • • • • •
.... . 20. . . . . . . • NID.ffiER • • • • •
THE · Nl~RCISS1JS
The rooms Of the Central Office have been gny Pith u bright suoceart.on of 1lareissus from Christmas Day, for follo~ing the 1·o vely cut floYvers were the bulbs that have been such a f'enture of the Holiday g~ft-giv'i'ng the las~ fen years, ancr \7hich blossom so quickly Vlhen placectiin a shnllow disn of \7ater. They uere all, as it ho.ppen~d. o:t: ~he variety · called •polynnthus 1 , o:- 'many-flowered 1 • a ~arcbet·y that is JUStly ·popular, becnuse one may be sure of ·at least eight blossoms on the one spike, ~~ile oftentimes there are many mor~. So inspiring have these charrn1ng flor1errn been o.nd so· suggestive of !:..'01. tho.t the Central Office hns mnde a search ~or special literature about the Narciflsus and presents at this time the results of its labors. The earliest reoo~ded mention· of· the narc is sus is thut ,.,hich occurs in Homer's "Hymn t.o Demeter", when he bears the folloning testimony to its ~iness."No.rcissu.;. glorious vronderilov1er, n miruclc in the eyes of nll, both~ods immortal and mo~tal men. £rom whose stern rises ~ hund:red blossoms. The ·,.,ide expon~o of Heaven, the broad f~eles of earth and the Galty UO.VeS of the sen are laughing v1i th joy at thy sv.'eet fragrance'~.
It is not genero.ll;r knorm that . the r rose of shnron 1 , rnent ioned in the Bible, \IUS the large yell on no.r ~ issus; common in 'Pales tine and the Eust. It '"'as Ma.homet V7ho said of the flO't7er,nHe that has tno cakes of bread J let him sell on·e of them for soce fio\Jer of the Narcissus. for bread is the food of the body only, but traroissns is the food. of the food of the soul". Pe-r; plants have been in such constant .favor \? i th the poets as this flOi'Jer. vthether knovm. by its classical nume o:f Ucrcisst,.s, or by its more popular names of Dnffodil, or Daffndowndillic, end Jonquil. The name, Narcissus, it getc froo ~eing supposed to be the same as the plant so naoed by the Greeks first end the Romans t..ftervmrds. The name 'jonquil' comes aorrupted thru the French, :froJp t juncifoliu$ 1 , or 'rush-leaf', and is properly ~estricted to those speeies of the 'family ~7hioh have rusl,ly leaves. There is some d"iffere.n ce of opinion regarding the derivation of the Hord 'daffodil', some·claiming tho.tiit is n co:xrruption of the Cree~~ nord 'aspholiel'. o"thers that it is simply on old ~ngltsh word 'affodyler~ nhich signifies 'thn.t ".7hich cometh eo.rly'. 'Dnffadm:md ill ie' is by some conaid~red ~ n playful el3borat1on of the shorter nume, but one cuthority, Dr. ~rio::-, considers it u corruption o:f 'saf:!:ron lilly', the r~ore. 'saffron in old Bnglish t~es~ being the name for our 'crocus•. }.. smell volume might be fillc,: i7ith the unn~T pocticr:.l de1Crij)tions o~ tbis 1 delectnble and m:eut-stJelling ::.?lor.: cr', but there r·::... e s ·or,1e nh ich· ure nloost cl..:.ss ico.l, ·o.n.e which will bear repetition nm-,cvel· Pell n._~ ~Y knou them. · Sho.kespore \7US p c.rticulo.rly fond of flower and reff:'rs· to it on seve·r al occasions, the· most charming de3Cr.i';Jt ions. hmrovor. being those that occur in the ''Vlinter 's Tale''. 4
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nrfhen Daffodils begin to -peer, \7i th heigh~ the doxy o 1 er the dale rfuy, then COI:Jes the sueet o' the yecr. . "Dc.ffodils come ~efore the sTinllon dares, end take The winds of ::'1ar8h ui th bet:.uty." · ~ht
. . ?t!il ton too love Q the Uarc issus cna, fdl'~louing the 1-:?ad of V1rg1l, 11lludes to it in his line, "The :fla.ffodillies fill thei:t cups IIi th teo.rsn, in reference to the legend that the chalice in the centre of the flower is suppoo~d · to contain the tears shed by the be ~u tiful Grecian youth. Then there nrc He~rickro ~ell-knonn lines,"Fair Dnffodil3, ne weep to see You hllste aPay oo soon, As yet the early-rising sun Has not attained his noon; Stny, stay, Until the hastening day Ho.s run But to the even-song; And l1avine; prayed together, ue Vill go with you u!ong. hav-e short time to stcy cs you. ne hc.ve aa short a spring As quick a grorrth to meet decay As you or nnyth ing-•• \'/e die, As your hours do, and dry Away, Like to ·the SUIIll:le r r s rc in, Or as the pccrls of morning d~ nue'er to be found again". Shelley's beo.utiful lines in "The Sennitive Pl~nt", "Na.rcissu:.;, the fairest anong them all, rlho g o.ze on their eiJoS in the ~s recess, Till they die of their om1 det:r lovelinessn nnd those of Keats," A thing of beauty is a. j o~.,. for ever, Its loveliness inc~c~ses, it will never P~ss into nothingness • • . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . In ·s pite of a.ll Some shnpe of beauty moves away the pcle From our do.rk spiri~s. Such the sun, the monn, Trc~s old. end ;:;· oung, sprou t ing o. shr' dy boon For simple sh~cp; and such ~rc D2ffodils r! i t:r.. the t:reen -,orld they l ive in". bring ~s to more modern ti mes, when,,pcrhaps, t he loveliest tribute of nll nas pa.id by "/ords•10rth in his.-;"I ncndered l 'Jnely as a cl ou d Thc.t flo o.ts on high otcr doles end hills, ~'/hen nll at once I suvr u crm1c , A host of go~den dc.ffodils Beside the l o.ke, bene a th the trees, Fluttering, and dancing in the breeze." 17e
Continuous as the stars that shine ..\n-d t\7inkle ·o n the milky Tray, They stretohee in never-ending line Along the margin of the bay; Tan thousand sew I at a ~1ance Tossing their hoads_ in spri~htly d~e. The ~~ves beside them danced, but· they Out-dl.d the apar1Uing t-raves in glee· i .. Poet could not but be g})'Y , In suoh n jocund oompany ~ I gazed-and gauea~butl~ittle thought WhB:t wealth_ to me :that show bed brought; For oft, when on ~Y couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flask upon that inward · eyc Which Is the bliss of soli tude·; And then my heart vti th pleasure fills, And dances with the Daffodils . 'rhere aN The Narcissus belongs to the .1\maryllis fomily. all as many as fifty species of the flouer, with several su~-s?e cies and varieties. most of uhich are very easily grown. There are · two main divisions~ those that, like the Poet 1 s Narcissus, carry a crown, and those ~here this has been developed into a cup er aeep tub~, as in the caae of the flo,7er commonly called the 1 daff odil 1 • It is the .!farcissus Poeticus that is the· perticular favor-:. i-te of poets e.nd \7riters generally. Ben Jonson refe·rs to it as the t:chequtd and purple-ring.od Daffodilly 1 -. Like most men, Jonson is is not strong on the distinction be~1een colors, or he· mos~ certainly would not have denignn.ted the crimson ·o dge as 'purple 1 , unless, perchance h~ was thinking of troyn.l purplet, uhich, as you doubtles$ kno~, is the oricson. · The Narcissus· is certainly ene of the mont grnceful flowers that gro~s. and possesses a pecu~inr frngrance such as no othe~ flower h~s; so beautfful it is, indeed, that ev&n Dr. Forbes Watson 1 s description of it is sa~roely too glowing;in.
"In· its general expression the Poet 1 s Harcissus seems e. type of maiden purity, yet warmeo by n love-breathing £r~granoe; and yet what innncehce in the large soft eye, which few ean· rival amongst the ~hole tribe of fl ouers. The narrow, yet vivid fringe o£ red, so cle~rly seen. amidst the whiteness, sugges.t s again the i dea •f pur~ ty. gushing passion~~purity with a heart which can kindly into fire". · . The Grecian and early Chri·s tian legends nf the riarcissus n.lre ody been touched upon in previous issues of the PHOEl!IX, so it is not necessary to dwell upon the~ at ~h is t i Qe , but the Cent:el Office :i El ~ubmitting a little song , not r· ith any idea of even h~p~ng to ::_:>reduce anything uh any sense the equal of ,-·ho.t hcs been con"t;rlbme. sters of the art ' but r.e rely the. t m em'IJ~rs of utec. tl") 1 it era tu:re b•r v • t . the Sor'1ri ty my ha.ve a chance to voice t be ir cC.rn irat ~on fer he~r beloved flo\7er. h~ve
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THE U/.RCISSUS
I
In the ~orld[' fair gardens Uan7 the flouers that bloem Filling earth "t"fith beauty ' And mth rich perfume,
But of all the blossom8 Shedding fr~grance rare None can with路 Narciss~c In loveliness compare.
Chorus Nnroi:ssus, l'niry flov:ret, Sweetest one tbat grows, Lovlier than the lily; More fragrant than the ros '-".
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It han more than beaut~ . Gentleness ana路 gruce, Purity nnd sueetness Sho\7 in its tenuer face. And close it holds a secret nnshrined uithin its heart, 'Tis this that sets it ever From othe路r flowers upart.
Chorus Narcissus, fairy flo~ret. sueet~st one that grous, Lovalier than the 1 ily, . Uore fragrant than the rose.
Lcadeoy Song Book , Pcge 228.