Shakespeare Flora by The OG

JFlora

THE

SHAKSPERE FLORA A GUIDE TO ALL THE PRINCIPAL PASSAGES IN WHICH MENTION IS MADE OF

^plants, Jflators, antr

$r0tmrti0tts;

WITH COMMENTS AND BOTANICAL PARTICULARS.

BY LEO

GRINDON,

Author of "Lancashire: Historical and Descriptive;" "Country " Manchester Banks and Bankers Rambles;" ;" "The Little

Things of Nature;" and other works.

Then

to the well-trod stage anon, If Jonson's learned sack be on, sweetest Shakspere, fancy's child, Warble his native wood-notes wild.

L' Allegro.

MANCHESTER: PALMER & HOWE,

73,

75,

AND

77,

PRINCESS-ST.

LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & 1883.

CO.

Joy/

MANCHESTER PALMER AND HOWE, PRINTERS, 73, 75, AND :

77,

PRINCESS-STREET.

PREFACE.

results

acquaintance

Shakspere are more

and

to far

plants.

useful, pleasing,

varied, than such as arise upon

familiarity trees

with

his

references

the following pages

allusion,

These references are key-notes

more than appears upon the

what they lead;

with

surface:

attempted to show

to bring out the poetry of every

where poetry

involved

;

and to show the

purpose and significance of the terms employed.

Every

tree, plant, flower,

and vegetable production

vi.

Preface.

named

every important occurs,

name

when

the beauty of the reference

this desirable.

volume

find

anything new,

moment presume to now a daily growing shown

spere,

the

the characters speaking are

That the practised Shaksperean this

dealt with;

which

passage

quoted;

also dealt with,

makes

and poems,

the plays

suppose.

critic

do not

will in

for

Happily there

national interest in Shak-

by the

particularly

increase,

during the last few years, of Shakspere Societies,

and the introduction of Shakspere as one of the chief levers of education in all high-class schools.

This encourages

hope that

events providing a guide to

which

may

also of

at all

Shakspere's plants

be useful to beginners, and to these

such help as they

I offer

students,

may

endeavour

find. is

For the sake

made

to explain

any curious and unusual words occurring

in the

passages quoted.

far

regards

sperean commentary,

my I

predecessors in Shak-

ask only to be regarded

vii.

Preface. as a technical botanist, following

and possibly suggesting an there that

may

illustration here

London,

New

the

erring with

good company.

Shakspere

whom,

Incomparably

because

Society

at least in

more important

than settling which of the several modes the right one,

and

adopted because the shortest of

the various spellings of the name, and

approved

wake,

have been overlooked. is

"Shakspere"

in their

the striving with

all

may be

our power

win over as many as we can of the

rising

generation to reverence for the poet himself.

page

17, line

7 from bottom, "birch" has

been accidentally printed instead of "larch."

LEO Manchester,

May, 1883.

GRINDON.

CONTENTS. CHAPTER

INTRODUCTORY

CHAPTER IN THE WOODS:

WOODS

II.

THE OAK

CHAPTER IN THE

(continued):

III.

THE WILLOW, THE

YEW, THE ASPEN

CHAPTER IN THE

WOODS

page.

(continued}:

IV.

THE LINDEN, THE

HAWTHORN, AND OTHER TREES

Contents.

CHAPTER

Page

THE WILD-FLOWERS: THE VIOLET

CHAPTER THE WILD -FLOWERS THE

PRIMROSE,

COWSLIP,

CHAPTER THE

WILD -FLOWERS

THE

VI.

(continued):

THE

DAFFODIL,

THE

PANSY,

THE

OXLIP...

THE

DAISY,

HAREBELL,

AND

OTHERS

119

CHAPTER THE WILD -FLOWERS THE

VII.

(continued):

THE

VIII.

(continued):

DOG-ROSE,

THE

WILD-THYME,

EGLANTINE,

OTHERS

AND 137

CHAPTER THE GARDEN -FLOWERS

IX.

149

Contents.

CHAPTER

xi.

Page

CULTIVATED FRUITS, ESCULENT VEGETABLES, AND

MEDICINAL HERBS

CHAPTER

175

XI.

THE FARM

209

CHAPTER

XII.

THE WILDERNESS AND THE WAYSIDE

CHAPTER

XIII.

THE MARKET-PLACE AND THE SHOPS

CHAPTER BOOK AND HEARSAY NAMES

229

269

XIV. 295

Contents.

FULL-PAGE

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

OLD WARWICK

Frontispiece.

THE SHRINE

IN THE WOODS

THE CEDARS

...

152

BY THE GRAVE

We are indebted to Mr.

Thos. Letherbrow for the

and Etching of

the above Illustrations.

262

Drawing

t/f

ffiljapto Jfirsi.

INTRODUCTORY. How Here

sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank will we sit, and let the sounds of music

Creep

Merchant of

in our ears.

HAKSPERE, heart

Venice, v.,

pre-eminently the poet of the

no man having unveiled as he has

done, the many-hued mystery of

emotion

of Nature.

and

great

small,

less the poet,

which environs

sees us,

human

supremely,

everything,

and

this

both

not only

the eye of the artist, intent upon loveliness of form and colour, but with the profounder comprehensiveness which gives ability to interpret, asking what may

with

these

things

signify,

what may be

their story

for the

The Shakspere Flora.

imagination.

not

slow either to

observe the

which science takes special cognizance. phenomena Were he indifferent to them, he would not in truth be of

The number of

Shakspere, nor even Poet.

simple facts

belonging to the "scientific" class referred to spere

far also

in itself

His

something wonderful.

fulfilment of a

prophecy

put forth

science

the

by some noble poet of

earlier age.

Shakspere was not a botanist; not a is

towards illustrating the ancient and uncontested

doctrine that every great discovery in

by Shak-

allusions

to say, in the technical

man

skilled, that

That he

knowledge of plants.

should be one was by no means needful to his pre-

eminence as poet. Had his attention been fastened and upon plants flowers; had he qualified himself to

book about them, probably we should in other respects have lost, and so far we may be thankful that he write a

looked upon them simply as most other

charming which it is

the

general

do,

i.e.,

loving,

for us

of nature,

for individuals of special taste to study

in this respect so excellently,

and more

men

loveliness

What Shakspere has done

classify.

and

factors

and

botanically,

found in sweeter,

and more copious mention of plants

and flowers than occurs in any other single writer, not professedly technical, the world has seen.

may of;

be thankful indeed.

and

little

in the consideration of his

time

not

ill

spent,

For

this

be glad enough forms and methods a

It is quite

even by those who care

nothing at all for botany as a science.

Other Poets. Comparing Shakspere with other poetic literature, in respect of profusion of reference to trees and plants, he is

surpassed only by the Old Testament writers.

him come two

After

or three of the classical authors

critus, in the Idylls,

and

Virgil, in the

Theo-

Eclogues and the

we may

in later times, those

call relatively Georgics; our own, next in order stand Chaucer and Milton.

who

Poets

the

count;

laid themselves out especially for botanical

Erasmus Darwin

themes

charm of

all

for

we do not now re-

example

such allusions as are

ferred to consisting in their purely spontaneous character.

Shakspere's purpose, like Chaucer's, was to depict action

and human character

talk about wild-flowers. is

The mention

exquisite; the introduction of their

incidental.

place,

and

human

in its varied phases, not to

Having them, we

of them, usually,

names

is still

only

recognize their fitness of

rejoice in their presence; yet

were they absent

In no case is it desirable or they would not be missed. even prudent to draw any exact comparison as to the quality

of the references, and

Milton's, though the tendency

least of all as is

couple the names and to look for logical narratives

regards

no doubt always to resemblances. Theo-

seldom give seasonable opportunities and fanciful.

for allusions other than the purely figurative

In the entire mass of the two great Protestant epics, not forgetting the picture of the garden of

Eden, there

not

a passage to put abreast of Perdita's "O Proserpina!" In that most chaste and finished of elegies, Lycidas, there

scope enough, and in Comus room

not wanting,

The Shakspere Flora. and "f

in these

two poems Milton shows

But we are

well.

thrown back upon the superiority of Shakspere in respect of affectionate intimacy with the things around still

him, as distinguished from the traditional and far -distant, since a poet is always delightful in the degree that he

keeps alive our warmest and tenderest home-sympathies. Milton, as a learned classical scholar, cites chiefly the plants already famous in the literature of ancient Greece

and Rome.

talks of the amaranth, of

Homer's moly,

of the acanthus, the asphodel, "cassia, nard, and balm."

Shakspere, on the other hand, excels in regard to the flowers of the wayside, the pretty objects classical

knowledge

to understand.

Milton

needs no

fails

also in

His practical knowledge of the him far below Shakspere's, so that was around things in one place makes a slip, himself although Shakspere respect of accuracy.

1 and

own epithets are we have the woodbine

although at times his

when

in Lycidas

unfortunately there are violet

many

matchless, as "well-attired"

distinct mistakes.

The

not a "glowing" flower; wild-thyme does not

mingle with the "gadding vine;" nor does the jessamine The sublimity of "rear high its flourished head.". Paradise Lost, the music and the incomparable grace of Lycidas and Comus, are qualities of course altogether

independent of the botany, and would remain were the botany detached. sideration,

where

and

which

simply the inexpediency of comparing nature of things few

similarities are in the very

distant.

all

These are not the present con-

The Poets The

numbers

superiority in point of

may seem

allusions

at the

Usages. in the

Shaksperean^

come

glance to

first

vastly greater extent of surface of his writings.

does not

of the

But

this

affect the question, since in at least five or six

of the dramas there are not more than a dozen plantallusions,

and these very often meagre

the plays specially

deficient

references are Julius Cczsar,

regard

ones. to

Much Ado About

and the Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Among

number of Nothing,

Very few occur

either

Merchant of Venice, in Macbeth, in King John, King Richard the Third, and Measure for Measure. They

in the

on the other hand, in the Tempest, Love's Labour's Lost, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, arrive in plenty,

Cymbcline,

and

still

increasingly in the

and the Midsummer Night's Dream.

Not

Winter's

Tale

that all are of

corresponding poetic eloquence, or fraught with pleasing Often there is no more than the barest

associations.

mention, and the word seems to serve no purpose but that of completing the measure. In all ages the poets

have been prone to introduce names of objects, and even To epithets, for the sake purely of metre or euphony.

do so, when genius shines on every page, so far from being a sign of weakness, is in harmony with the wise * deliberate

repose

Strength.

The

like all his

the instant.

never

disdained

forgotten

Shaksperean botanical slip is, other lapses, so palpable as to be detected on It

solitary

occurs in the scene in Cymbeline, where

Imogen, lying upon her bed, asleep and half disrobed, contemplated by lachimo.

notes her closed eyelids,

The Shakspere Flora. White, and azure-laced

With blue

of heaven's

own

tinct

;

then,

her

left breast,

A mole cinque-spotted,

like the crimson drops

the bottom of a cowslip.

certain

amount of

latitude

descriptions designed to be vivid

always permissible in

and picturesque, but

going quite beyond the reality to say that the spots in the cup of the cowslip are "crimson." The nearest

approach to that colour ever seen could only be described as

rosy orange.

printers'

and

Considering the

copyists'

Shakspere, the famous

cedence of

all in

errors

"first folio"

number

early editions

infinite

the

of 1623 taking pre-

point of inaccuracy;* considering, too,

that in spite of all the criticism bestowed

we have not

upon Shakspere

yet got the poet's exact words in

many an

obscure passage, nor even the general sense phrase

this

word "crimson" might

first

of the sight

But there thought one of the terms awaiting correction. is no reason to doubt the authenticity, and we must be content to take

as the exception to the author's other-

wise unbroken faithfulness to nature.

This, in truth,

the only circumstance which justifies or even calls for *

"Perhaps," says the Rev. Joseph Hunter, in the preface to his Illustrations of Shakspere, "Perhaps in the whole annals of English typography there is no record of any book of any extent,

New

and any reputation, having been dismissed from the press with less care and attention than the first folio of 1623" (the first collective edition).

Criticism.

to spare for

Set against this

it.

Never mind.

the present comment.

have no time

little slip,

Daffodils

That come before the swallow

The winds

March with

dares,

and take

beauty,

or any one of a score of similar perfections, and

it is

thousand times outweigh ted. Whoever else you may be disposed to quarrel with, never fall out with Shakspere; not even over a verbal error, any more than, if you would Discover the misprints by everything that is clearly not Shak-

prosper, over a rule of all

means; amend

own; but

spere's

noble

art,

before

let

the blemishes pass.

attend to the flaws,

than common-sense to all

the merits.

for

learning

glorious.

life.

Life

make

sure that

first

no more perceive

too short, opportunity too limited,

even a small portion of the great and

Why,

then, waste ever so

search for blots and weaknesses

little

There

or cleverness in discovering the faulty. clever

In works of it

and creditable

any one

of either in

real

skill

Far away more to

point out a

feature of loveliness previously concealed or overlooked.

Shakspere, above in days

all

men

the joy and solace of millions

and who

gone by, unborn

will

be the joy and solace of

the last in the world

who should

be subjected to pert and ungrateful testing

for defects.

millions yet

Look

when

up, rather, you do at York Minster, and hope that, with much reverence, you may some day be able to appreciate the full splendour.

Not

that

god, and

in his presence, as

are to regard Shakspere as a kind of demi-

to think

even

his failings amiable.

They go

The Shakspere Flora.

with other men's, and with our own, such as were he

he could expose as readily, and with still greater It is a matter of satisfaction, after all, that they

living,

reason.

For while we

exist.

matter who, that

love,

and admire, and honour, no

may be good and

worthy,

always

pleasant to feel that our love and honour are given to

good old-fashioned stance

our

flesh

and blood,

to a being of sub-

sometimes

own, animated,

perhaps

by the same passions, subject to the same This is one of the grand deficiencies and failings.

disfigured,

secrets of the universality of men's fondness for Shakspere.

While teaching best of

us, as

all things,

some author

With Shakspere we are always touches the sky; immortals, but he

his

to our

at our ease.

voice

gathers

own

little

the

defects."

His forehead

tone

from

walks upon the earth and

still

Deducting the one

of ourselves. to,

says, that love

"he reconciles us

the

one

exception referred

Shakspere, in regard to his botany, though making

no pretention

scientific,

always be trusted

may

herein, perhaps, standing alone, at all events as

with

all

earlier

and

all

contemporary

literature,

the great mass of the poets of later ages.

compared and with

That several

of his plant and flower names are vague, and have given rise to

much

conjecture and speculation, and that one or

two are probably undeterminable, may unhesitatingly be conceded. Sometimes this comes of default of contemporary illustration; sometimes, in carelessness of copyists

there

no such thing

for

it is

all

likelihood, of the

be remembered that

in existence as

original

mamt-

Shakspere always Trustworthy. script of

any portion of the Shaksperean writings, and they were exposed to every

that before being printed

But when we have the unquespure and unvitiated, we can

species of corruption.

tionably original words,

always read in

an assurance so much the more

faith,

agreeable because sometimes, at the first blush, there Take, for instance, the may be disposition to demur. pretty song in Lovers Labour's Lost:

When daisies pied, and violets blue, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, And Lady-smocks, all silver white, Do paint the meadows with delight. * Gather a Lady-smock as you tread the rising grass in fragrant

May, and, although

in individuals the petals are

sometimes cream-colour, as a rule the flower viewed in the hand is lilac pale, but purely and indisputably

Where then

lilac.

the silver whiteness? that are

"meadows," remember, often happens, the flower turf,

and most

white.

particularly if the

prisms;

let

discover that

The *

actual

The above

wrongfully,

modern

always

them it is

ground be aslope, and all

changed; the

is literally

silver-

Shakspere's epithets are like

tremble in the sunshine,

who knows

number of is

When,

painted.

no longer; the meadow is

the

so plentiful as to hide the

the sun be shining from behind us, flowers are lilac

and

best.

different species of trees, plants,

the arrangement of the lines in the early editions

would seem, nevertheless, and

therefore,

;

most

ones, corrected so as to give alternate rhymes, as in all the

other verses of the song.

The Shakspere Flora.

TO and

flowers introduced or referred to

by Shakspere,

large, considering how many more must have The reason we have already been familiar to him.

no means adduced

;

he never went out of

his

way

for

illustration,

or sought to advertise his knowledge by importing any-

He must have thing in the least degree uncalled for. looked a thousand times at the scarlet corn-poppies, at the forget-me-nots, and the water-lilies on the stream.

But they were not wanted, and he left them to other About a dozen wild or field flowers, an equal people.

number of garden flowers, a called "weeds," and three or absorb nearly

the

all

score of the plants usually four of our indigenous trees,

passages

distinguished for their

poetic beauty; and not uncommonly, as in the scant passages in ancient Greek dramatic verse where flowers are mentioned, the

The

mentioned, the Tale,

names and

pictures

come

in clusters.

plays richest in botanical allusion are,

Midsummer Nighfs Dream,

The Tempest, Love's Labour's

and Juliet, and King Lear.

These,

Lost, Hamlet, it

will

above-

the Winter's

Romeo

be perceived,

cover nearly the whole period of Shakspere's productiveness, so that we cannot suppose him to have been inclined to such allusions

particularly at

time, sooner or later, than another.

much

Few

any one

or many,

what plants does he name, as after what fashion does he name them ? Had he omitted the not so

after

all,

cowslip and harebell, and given us instead the poppy and the forget-me-not, it would have been just the same, since to the master everything

comes

right.

The way

Variety of Allusion. nature of the mention so various.

in itself very interesting, being

Sometimes they are cited as objects of'*

daisies pied."

the landscape, to

serving to decorate

simple beauty,

and woodland, as in "When Sometimes they become capital descrip-

throw sweetness on

tive

1 1

field

adjectives,

"her

lily

hand."

Still

frequently they supply delightful comparisons, Kate, like the hazel twig, Is straight

and

hazel-nuts,

slender,

and as brown

hue

and sweeter than the kernels.

Taming of the Shrew,

ii.,

Often, again, they serve the purpose, incomparably, of

emblems

;

In such a night,

Stood Dido, with a willow in her hand, Upon the wild sea-banks, and waft her love

To come

again to Carthage.

In some cases, yet

further,

Merchant of

Venice, v., I.

they appear

implication, without actual mention of the

the "enchanted herbs" of the wily

same play; and

little

by elegant name, as in

Jewess in the

in the beautiful picture in the

Tempest

of the "fairy rings" produced by the centrifugal spread of certain fungi ;

You demi-puppets, that By moonshine do the greensome ringlets make, Whereof

ewe not

the classes indicated

the total the

the

mode

number of

(v., I.)

may be referred

plants referred to,

forty or fifty of

and

these, from

may be regarded as the eminently Nearly a hundred others are alluded to

of handling,

poetical ones.

bites.

The Shakspere Flora.

12 in

an ordinary, conventional, or prosaic way, sometimes

the

or other product being alone spoken

fruit

native

and

the same number;

foreign,

of.

edible vegetables about thirty are mentioned; of

fruits,

of spices and

medicines about twenty. Occasionally the references to the plants of this second and much larger class are fraught with

some kind

of curious lateral interest, either

historical, or identified, in

lore of the time, with

won'derful tales told

deference to the popular folk-

some quaint superstition; for the by Pliny, and diffused during the

dark ages, during which he was the great authority, were implicitly believed in, at all events by the crowd.

still

The seed

of the shield-fern sprinkled over one's body, in

Shakspere, as in his predecessors, confers

We have the

We walk The

invisible.

bay-trees die

ist

Henry

when calamity

"Pis thought the king

The

invisibility:

receipt for fern-seed,

dead.

the Fourth,

hand

ii.,

will not stay,

bay-trees in our country all are withered. King Richard the Second,

ii.,

The mandrake, source of Rachel's famous dudha'im, when torn out of the earth, shrieks so terribly That living mortals hearing

it,

go mad.

Romeo and Juliet,

must be

Shakspere anything which

not really his own, especially

when he simply echoes some popular

story.

These

quaint old fancies and superstitions rank with our current

use

iv., 3.

careful at all times not to assign or attach to

of the

myths and

legends

own

antiquity.

Shakspere's Morals.

The

singers talk of Apollo, the dancers of Terpsichore,

Ulysses' lotus-tree has

the tragedians of Melpomene.

never ceased to ripen

Helen

personal suasion.

nepenthe, and bestows

golden berries for our own

its

offered to weary Telemachus. in question are

awaits us with her cup of

still

with grace as kindly as

The

tales

and

when

superstitions

no more a part of Shakspere's

veritable

and personal botany, than the old Greek fables are a part of our own individual and private religion, therefore not to be mistaken for imperfect scientific knowledge,

much

Not alone

but at

fabulists,

principle

of the age.

whatever

please himself alone,

impure.

propria

and habits

be ascribed

When

he wrote to

was always wisely and loveably;

which now offends was written,

please the public, at

less in

tastes

circumstance

this

in his writings

other times, Shak-

many

in conformity with the

person^ than

in connection with the plants

must be understood as speaking

spere

that

The

less for credulity or folly.

important one. of the ancient

all

events in

full

not distinctly to consistency with

the spirit and the manners of the age, which permitted

many

now

things

perhaps,

distasteful;

though

may

still

be asked

nineteenth century ideas of refinement and

modesty are

not, in

comparison with Elizabethan ones,

shadowy and fictitious. important to remember also that of many of the hundred or more of the second class of plants spoken of,

many

cases

It is

Shakspere had no personal knowledge, citing them either from books or from hearsay. Like every one else he

The Shakspere Flora. talks of things

he had never seen.

either a palm-tree or a cedar,

Shakspere never saw

and probably knew as

In contemplating his of the myrtle and the olive. botany all such plants as these have to be differentiated from the trees and flowers he knew as companions and little

loved so dearly, and should on no account be catalogued with them.

IN Love

thyself last

THE WOODS.

cherish those hearts that hate thee ;

Corruption wins not more than honesty Still in

thy right hand carry gentle peace

silence envious tongues.

Let

Thy

just

and

fear not.

the ends thou aims't at be thy country's, God's, and truth's. King Htnry the Eighth,

all

IKE is

iii.,

every true lover of nature, Shakspere

always at

these, as

woods, as a

home artist,

the

he never

skilful dramatist,

Woods tires

;

in the

he lays some

of his most admired and poetic scenes. Shakspere's acquaintance with sylvan scenery was certainly intimate than with mountains, waterfalls, and

much more

other grand elements of inanimate nature.

There

reason to believe that he ever visited North Wales or the

Lake

District

;

and the seashore must of necessity have

The Shakspere Flora.

been unfamiliar, though he knew enough of the immortal picture in King Lear

to give us

The murmuring surge, That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes, Cannot be heard so high ; that other, in Yea,

2nd King Henry

this

the Fourth,

man's brow, like to a

title-leaf

Betrays the nature of a tragic volume So looks the strand whereon the imperious flood :

Hath

and

left

that lovely

see

the

a witness'd usurpation

one

little

in the

;

Tempest, where with himself

children giving the

wave

their old-

accustomed summer challenge; Ye

elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes,

and groves

;

And ye, that on the sands with printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him, When he comes back. Spending his youth in the ancient and glorious forestshades of Warwickshire, and returning to them after his London life, no wonder that trees hold a place so distinguished in his imagery.

immemorial

found

was under the boughs

forest-monarchs

earliest nurture

;

that

his

and no pleasure

imagination that

we can

conceive of as concurrent with his declining years can

have exceeded the calm delight with which he trod the he had gathered his first shaded pathway

^wherein impressions of the beauty of nature, and tasted the deep Not only were grand old trees a joy of meditation. daily spectacle during his

boyhood

he was much alone

with them, as with most other elements of wild nature,

Shakspere's Forests. and thus

peculiarly

open

to their influence.

tunate for us that he was so circumstanced.

somewhere remarks

that

the

for-

Mr. Ruskin

quietude of Shakspere's

nature contributed in no slight

early intercourse with

measure to the perfection of mental power disclosed so marvellously at a riper age, and which the word "

Shaksperean

sufficient to denote.

His walks were

meadows, where he would hear no voices but those of the birds, and by the smooth and lilied river, in scented

from which he would change to the green recesses of the No other scenes were at his command, save in forest. the village,

be one of

and even here the prevailing condition would But we must not think of Shak-

tranquillity.

from the woodlands of to-day. Except in parts of William Rufus' famous

spere's forests

Sherwood, and the older plantation,

we have

Elizabethan times

little

still

the kind which in the

existed in plenty.

Wheat now

grows upon many a broad acre which, when Shakspere wrote, was covered with timber, and not simply timber such as pleases a modern dealer, but magnificent and aboriginal forest, the like of which in England can never

be seen again.

England

that

Many they

of the trees

seem

now

indigenous,

the

common hiah

in for

example, and the Lombardy poplar, had not been introduced ; and even the sycamore and the Norway spruce were

known

only in private pleasure-grounds.

Shakspere's forest consisted of trees

majestic.

such as had given

and the great mass of them would Those which now occupy the place of the

shelter to Caractacus,

The Shakspere Flora.

aged Titans of the olden time, are in comparison small We may learn what the former were juvenile.

and

from

the

huge

preserved in

slices

old Elizabethan mansions,

the

of the

best

Haddon Hall for instance. to tell their own story, dotted

Happily, too, a few survive over the country, as the Cowthorpe oak, the Marton oak, Sir Philip Sidney's, and others of the well-named

"memorial trees" of our

Trees such as these

island.

must be thought of when we would understand in what kind of school Shakspere learned his forest-lessons. They were not received from saplings of only a century or two of birthdays, but from patriarchs.

Of the many quiet of great

those in the

It,

beautiful scenes laid

woods and

Midsummer Nighfs Dream, and

that delicious pastoral, in

so truly, " he teaches us

life,

and

by Shakspere in the most charming are

forests, the

how

which

As You

has been said

to forget the painful lessons

in the contemplation of faithfulness, generosity,

affection."

The

chief part of the action in each of

these matchless pieces lies

noting that

it is

in these

amid

trees

;

and

worth

two that Shakspere most wins

upon the heart that delights in peace. Nowhere are we nourished more exquisitely by his humane and dulcet wisdom than when listening to him among the trees which bore "love songs on

their barks"

Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile, Hath not old custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp ? Are not these woods More free from peril than the envious court ? Here feel we but the penalty of Adam,

As You The

It.

seasons' difference; as the icy fang, churlish chiding of the winter's wind,

And

Which, when

Even This

bites

and blows upon upon

body,

shrink with cold, I smile, and say no flattery ; these are counsellors

till

feelingly persuade me what I am. Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,

That

Wears

And

yet a precious jewel in his head.

this

our

life,

Finds tongues in

Sermons

in stones,

thought of what

and good

in everything.

we touched more

either, are

Nowhere,

exempt from public haunt, books in the running brooks,

trees,

gracious and

tenderly with

when

chivalric than

with Helena in "another part of the

wood"

not

now

Arden, but that lovely one "near Athens." If you were civil, and knew courtesy, You would not do me thus much injury. Can you not hate me, as I know you do, But you must join in souls to mock me too? If you were men, as men you are in show, You would not use a gentle lady so.

trim exploit, a manly enterprise, conjure tears up in a poor maid's eyes

Midsummer Night's Dream,

iii.

Nature, says a great essayist, is "coloured by the spirit." Hence, in the former play, to Orlando, who carries sorrowful thoughts with him,

and disheartening

Speak you so gently ? I

all for

a time

rude, waste,

Pardon me,

pray you,

things had been savage here, therefore put I on the countenance

thought that

all

And Of stern commandment.

But whate'er you

are,

The Shakspere Flora.

That in this desert inaccessible, Under the shade of melancholy boughs, Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time ; on better days,

If ever you have look'd If ever

been where

If ever sat at

bells

have knoll'd to church,

any good man's

feast,

If ever from your eyelids

wiped a tear, pity, and be pitied,

And know what 'tis to Let gentleness my strong

enforcement be.

As You

The "colour"

laid

It, ii.,

on by sadness, Emerson might have is rarely other than one that presently

gone on to tell us, and disappears, seeing that the grand function of nature is to refresh and revive the heart. Always ready fades

with an echo for joyfulness, she refuses to sustain the

"In

mournful.

the

woods,"

according to

experience, '''we return to reason feel that

and

me in me my

nothing can befall

which (leaving

calamity,

life

eyes)

his

own

There

faith.

disease,

nature cannot

Old Homer represents Achilles as regaining his composure through playing on his harp to the sound

repair." lost

Shakspere keeps us to the forest; he knew his encouraging scene. He shows

of the sea.

where best to lay withal his

nature the

consummate still

art

more potent

in interweaving with wild realities

human

emotion.

Orlando soon discovers that the woods, after all, are not melancholy, and henceforward we ourselves enjoy them Where Rosalind breathes, how can any place threefold.

be sad

Rosalind, darling maid, one of the quintette of

Shaksperean is

women

compliment enough

be compared to any one of

for

whom

any of her sex that ever lived

Shakspere s Trees.

Rosalind, who, in her boy's clothes, makes believe that

she does not

know who

writes the verses, or for

Women

they are intended.

whom

love nothing better than to

be able to feign ignorance of the emotions and actions they hold most dear. episode, shows once

named,

woman

is,

Shakspere, in this charming again that the poet rightfully so alone, nor

much about what

Shakspere did not care to learn

would

botanist if

man

as the ancients said, neither

alone, but homo,

"species" of

call the

trees.

It is doubtful

he knew familiarly more than half-a-dozen different

kinds, including even the smaller ones of the hedgerow.

never once mentions the beech or the abele, and

even the ash and the elm hold no place in his landscape But how quick and accurate his perception of pictures. the

phenomena of their

the universal poesy

life,

This

and of the is

part they play in

the kind of knowledge to

be most envied, for it is that to which comparison of forms and colours never reaches. A single instance of the

first

will suffice.

are

all

well acquainted with

the great outpour of foliage which marks the spring.

Are we as apt

to notice that in July there

kinds of trees a

by a

distinctly

lull

or pause, followed in a

second

series of twigs?

many

little

while

Sometimes they

are yellowish, sometimes roseate, occasionally of a

and shining ruddy hue, looking

the green.

And

never, since the middle summer's spring, hill, in dale, forest, or mead,

Met we on

warm

bouquets among

The Shakspere Flora.

By paved fountain, or by rushy brook, Or on the beached margent of the sea,

dance our ringlets to the whistling wind.

Midsummer Night's Dream,

The

trees

which

in our

ii.,

own country are most especially midsummer shoots, are

apt to produce these beautiful

the oak and the sycamore, the reason being found in the exceptionally large

number of

two are prone to develop, terminal bud, one of any such always anticipating scarcely have

its

lateral

circlet,

neighbours.

When

known.

around the

wherever met with,

Shakspere could

been able to observe them

as in the time of Elizabeth this tree to be

buds which these

circlet,

in the sycamore,

was only beginning

he wrote these charming

lines his

thoughts were with Old England's oak.

Turn now

In the sunshine of

to the poesy proper.

high summer,

The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind, And make a chequer'd shadow on the ground. Titus Andronicus,

Then we

are asked to note

The moon

shines bright

;

how

quiet they can be

Presently the breeze quickens

The

And by

his

in such a night as this,

When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees, And they did make no noise Merchant of Venice,

Doth play

ii.,

v.,

southern wind

the trumpet to his purposes, hollow whistling in the leaves

Foretells a tempest,

and a blustering day. ist

Henry

the Fottrlh, v.,

The Oak. Autumn approaches now I

have lived long enough

Lastly,

my way

Is fall'n into the sear, the

mark

yellow

life

leaf.

Macbeth,

v., 3.

the observation, so consummately accurate,

of the fact not more true in botany than so admirably as

employed principal

imminent

image,

or larger

a tree never

that

leaves,

till

casts

decay of everything

its

When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand When the sun sets, who doth not look for night ?

;

King Richard the

Third,

ii.,

THE OAK. Every country has this

proud

title

its

In England, accorded to the oak the

"forest monarch."

rightfully

majestic

Quereus Robur which in associations as well

as figure

and

attributes,

owns no

Many circumThe dimensions,

rival.

stances contribute to the supremacy.

when full-grown, exceed those of every other British tree. The outline or profile, though in general character so determinate that to mistake an oak inexhaustibly various.

The

trunk,

impossible,

huge and massive,

though never aspiring, holds the place among foresters which the Norman pillar does in cathedral architecture.

The lower boughs,

spreading

horizontally,

often

nearly touch the ground as to allow of our gathering not

The Shakspere Flora.

The

only the acorns, but their pretty tesselated cups.

rugged bark

to the embroidery of

open and golden; and

peculiarly

delicate mosses, green

to be secure from touch, there

enough

just high

often a beautiful tuft

of spangled polypody, in winter a cheerful ornament

unknown

England any

any other English

Neither

tree.

there in

tree that presents so wonderful a diversity

of leaf-outline, or a richer variety of

autumnal hue

and the elm;

summer

tasks completed,

pass away,

not afraid of dying, the

birch itself does not disclose secrets of loveliness delectable.

The

tint.

scarcely exceeded even by the beech and when these beautiful leaves, their

should never be forgotten in regard to

deciduous trees in general, and in reference to the oak

most

particularly, that

however

midsummer, when clothed with

delightful the spectacle at foliage, slaking its

thirst in the well-pleased sunshine, the

learned only in winter, or classic fable of

Mount

when we

mighty inmost form is

are reminded of the

Ida.

Shakspere, without question,

all

these features, the

pretty minor ones as well as the noble, must have been familiar. His imagination must needs also have been

influenced by the noble ones, an almost daily spectacle,

and if

to a degree

it is

now

very

difficult to

estimate;

and

the minor ones receive no express or exact mention,

How simply because the verse was complete without. beautiful the picture of the aged tree by the water side is

in peaceful Arden, the sturdy roots

laid

bare by the

washing away of the earth that once protected them

The Oak. He

lay along, root peeps out

Under an oak whose antique

the brook that brawls along this wood.

Upon

As You Like It,

That one

again, in the

same

play, of the

mighty

Whose boughs were moss'd

And If

are

high top bald with dry antiquity.

ii.,

tree,

with age,

(iv., 3.)

are so constituted as to delight in trees while they

youthful,

existence,

and

what

again,

while in

the

full

vigour of

we can be more enjoy them when old and

there for which

grateful than the capacity to

grey?

Mr. F. Heath points out very happily that

pleased

God

has

so to adjust the lives of trees to the lives of

men, that no generation of mankind comes on the ground without rinding both the promise and the perfection of the divine handiwork in the vegetable world side by side.

Man

him

Shakspere takes care that

has

all

the stages of tree-life always before this at least

shall

not

forget.

The moss and

the antiquity re-appear in

Timon of

Athens: Will these moss'd

That have outlived the

And

skip

when thou

eagle,

trees,

page thy

point's! out?

heels,

(iv., 3.)

That a. very considerable protion of Timon of Athens was not written by Shakspere is generally admitted. Timon, like Pericles and Titus Andronicus, came fundamentally from another pen, Shakspere altering and amending. To decide exactly which parts belong to the inferior authors is

work

for critics

who may be competent.

All that can

The Shakspere Flora.

be done while we are "in the woods" as

stands,

and

for

what

Shakspere in his boundless

web of

human

to take the play

bearing in mind that

is,

knowledge of the mingled

nature, allows even the most ignoble at thus, that although Apemantus, a character when put in comparison with

times to utter truths;

who

speaks,

mean and heartless it was probably who assigned to him the beautiful

the generous Timon,

Shakspere himself adjuration

Shame

not these woods,

putting on the cunning of a carper.

Here, in the woods, he means, learned from the most illustrious

lamentations are out of place

(iv., 3.)

we have already of Dukes, regrets and remember that in the as

woods we are upon consecrated ground; it is in the woods that the heart finds solace and repair; shame

them not with murmurs. Shakspere refers frequently to the prodigious strength solidity of the oak

and

have seen tempests when the scolding winds

Have

rived the knotty oaks.

Julius Ccesar, Merciful heavens

i.,

Thou

rather, with thy sharp

and sulphurous

bolt,

unwedgeable and gnarled oak, Than the soft myrtle. Measure for Measure, Split'st the

To Have With

I giv'n fire,

his

own

ii.,

the dread rattling thunder

and

bolt.

rifted Jove's stout

Tempest,

\.,

oak

"Jove's," because with the ancients, the oak was dedi-

cated to Jupiter, as the myrtle was to Venus, the laurel to Apollo.

The Oak. The same and

for

recommend

qualities

metaphor, as in

one green leaf upon So in Coriolanus:

27 it

would have answered

that

in Love's Labour's Lost,

iv.,

also in the Passionate Pilgrim

Though

simile,

with but

her."

i.)

(ii.,

depends

Upon your favours, swims with fins And hews down oaks with rushes.

And

for use

Much Ado, "An oak

of lead, (i.,

I.)

which occur

lines

2.,

to myself forsworn, to thee

Those thoughts

me were

I'll faithful prove, oaks, to thee like osiers bowed.

Pauline, in the Winter's Tale,

ii.,

3.;

in Othello,

Montano,

Arviragus in Cymbeline, iv, 2.; and Lear, iii., 2., There are turn to it for the same species of illustration.

i.;

similar

examples in Troilus and Cressida,

others in Coriolanus, Sixth,

ii.,

i.,

v.,

comes

;

that

v., 3.;

while in

and

old familiar

picture of the final reward of perseverance

And many

strokes,

Hew down, Individual trees

and

fell

little

and the

beautiful

axe,

the hardest-timbered oak.

mark the scene of

adventures, as in the the duke's oak

though with a

3.;

i.,

$rd Henry

Midsummer

we meet"; and

assignations

Night's

and

Dream, "At

in the mirth-provoking

Wives, that joyous play, the finest example ever produced of the purely and thoroughly English local drama, in which we are introduced to the famous legend

Merry

Herne the Hunter

goes that Herne the Hunter, time a keeper here in Windsor forest, Doth all the winter-time, in still midnight,

There

an old

tale

Some

Walk round

about an oak, with great ragg'd horns.

(iv.,

4.)

The Shakspere Flora.

28 There

no need

or eight in

to quote the remaining passages, seven Suffice

all.

the individual, at

tree

all

say that this celebrated

events, always pointed to as

"Herne's Oak," existed till as late as 1834, and continued till then, to bear acorns just as in the time of

even

"Sweet Anne Page."

then succumbed, partly through

exhaustion, partly to the effects of tempest, though the

dead ruins remained

in their place

The Romans gave Reserved

soldiers.

to 1863.

chaplets of oak to distinguished

for

the most

and

valiant,

the

reward of special acts of heroism, they were the antetype of our own "Victoria Cross," and are fittingly mentioned in Coriolanus:

comes the

third time

home with

the oaken garland. i.)

(ii.,

He prov'd best man the field, Was brow-bound with the oak. i'

and

for his

(ii.,

meed,

2.)

In one curious instance "oak" appears to be a copyist's error for

"hawk":

She

When had

that so

young could give out such a seeming Othello, up close as oak.

seel her father's eyes

their eyelids stitched together, so

them

iii.,

falconry was a royal sport, newly-captured

the hood.

supplies a grand

The

metaphor Come,

operation, called in

Macbeth

hawks

accustom "seeling,"

seeling night,

Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day,

and the same,

in all probability,

otherwise obscure Othello passage.

referred to

this

Acorns. Acorns, the

29 some

of the oak, are mentioned upon

fruit

"I found him," says Celia, "under a dropped acorn." Rosalind is ready for

half-dozen occasions.

tree,

her:

"It

well be called Jove's tree,

may

Then comes

forth such fruit."

when

drops

the picture drawn from

"There lay he, stretched along a wounded knight," followed up by Rosalind's sweet sympathy, as earnest as her love, "Though it be pity chivalry or the wars:

to see such a sight,

well

becomes the ground," a most

beautiful phrase, to be interpreted as "embellishing" just as at the

thick

upon the

stage:

Such a

Becomes

the

the word in our

own

sight as this

but here shows

field,

understood

It is easily

it;

end of Hamlet, when the dead are lying so

much

we think of

amiss.

the similar use of

current vernacular, as

said so fittingly that a blush

when

becomes a woman.

In the Midsummer Night's Dream, the cups give shelter to the fairies: All their elves for

fear,

Creep into acorn-cups, and hide them

The same,

there.

(i.,

I.)

in the Tempest, are to serve as food for

Ferdinand, whose deserts, for the time being, are only those of the Prodigal

Son

thy food shall be fresh-brook mussels, withered roots, and husks,

Sea-water shall thou drink

The

Wherein the acorn

cradled.

(i.,

2.)

Allusions of similar character in the Tempest,

of Athens,

iv., 3.,

i.,

Timon

and a few others of quite subordinate

The Shakspere Flora. importance, being added to the above, the total number of references to the oak by Shakspere, or

thirty-one,

Wives, often,

twenty-four.

repetitions

other

tree

appears to be in

the

Merry

mentioned so

upon his own showing, it was his we must not forget that the oak has in though

and

favourite; all

excluding

the

thus,

ages held a front place

names under which

metaphor, the various

appears denoting several species not British, as in the case of the Hebrew Ballon, and the

Greek

SpvQ, the

Odyssey

word employed

in that

famous

line in the

" For thou

art not of the

oak of ancient story."

Drawn

Etched tv

Cfraptsr

THE WILLOW. This above

And

all,

thine

own

self

true,

must follow, as the night the day, Thou can'st not then be false to any man. it

Hamlet,

i.,

willow, like the oak,

is placed before as 'an object of both Shakspere natural beauty and as an emblem. It

us by

interesting to observe, at the outset,

that,

to the form

and

excepting a slight reference in Virgil

colour, he

the

first

poet by

whom

substantially so employed.

QUEEN

LAERTES

Your sister's drowned, Laertes Drowned O, where ? :

There is a willow grows ascaunt the brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream.

QUEEN

There, with fantastic garlands did she come,

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long-purples, That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them.

it is

The Shakspere Flora.

There, on the pendent boughs, her coronet weeds Clambering to hang an envious sliver broke ;

When down her weedy trophies and herself Her clothes spread wide, Fell in the weeping brook. And

mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up,

Which time she chanted snatches of old As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and indued Unto

But long

that element.

tunes,

could not be,

heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay, To muddy death. Hamlet, iv., 7.

Till that her garments,

The

tree particularly alluded to in this

and tender

ment of

description,

the white willow, Salix alba

the river side

species similar to the

most beautiful

that well-known lovely orna-

common

S. fragilis,

"Crack

but at once distinguished by the long and narrow leaves being overspread with shining silvery hairs. Enamoured of quiet streams such as Shakspere was willow,"

upon the Avon it still and to-day we may see it When growing on the very

familiar with in Warwickshire,

accentuates

many a

reach,

reflected just as he did.

margin, and at a point where the current newly presses, the trunk cannot help but lose

which

its hold upon the soil, undermined and worn away, so that at last it

quite leans over, the boughs then often forming a light

canopy, beneath which the little fishes play. circumstanced, it attains a stature of thirty

Favourably feet,

and the

branches are then strong enough to bear the weight of one who climbs them. Mark now the supreme art of the master in telling us that the water was deep enough

The Willow.

drowning of the poor soul, without saying so Shallow streams, such as cannot express terms.

for the in

drown, are always more or

it is

stars;

and

only for the

They cannot

less rippled.

possibly serve as mirrors; they

do not

reflect

deep and tranquil

even the

be "glassy,"

to let objects such as the willow reappear.

The

There are other pictures to be contemplated.

foliage of this beautiful tree, though like the silvery head

of a Nestor,

gleams in the ray of the sun,

the peculiar sheen of the oleaster.

Hence

wanting in the epithet

"hoar," subdued or greyish-white, already immortalized

by Chaucer: Though

be hoar,

That blosmeth

I fare as

doth a tree

y-woxen be ; The blosmy tree is neither drie nor ded ; I feel me nowhere hoar but on my hed ; Mine harte and all my limmes ben as green

Note

also,

ere the fruit

laurel through the year

" mermaid-like."

for to seen.

"Mermaid"

in Shakspere's

time was synonymous with "siren":

O train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note, To drown me in thy sister's flood of tears, Sing, siren, for thyself.

Comedy of Errors,

iii.,

in the splendid description of Cleopatra's barge The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne,

Burn'd on the water

the

poop was beaten gold

;

Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that The winds were love-sick with them.

Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i' the eyes, And made their bends adornings. Antony and Cleopatra,

ii.,

The Shakspere Flora.

34 So

in Venus

Thy So,

and Adonis,

mermaid's voice hath done

when Oberon

too,

relates

double wrong.

how once he heard a

mermaid,

On a dolphin's back, Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, That the rude sea grew civil at her song. This

last passage supplies clear proof of the identity of meaning, since the mermaid of fable is in its lower half like a fish, therefore incapable of taking such a position.

The

on the other hand, held the complete human

sirens,

form.

The Mr.

death of Ophelia (represented in pictorial art by work not less well known than truthful

Millais, in a

to all that the highest poetry desire,)

interest to

and the imagination can

and most profoundly tender the student of Shakspere, which comes of its

has

the

further

being the only instance in the whole of his writings of In all, he has about ninety lost by drowning.

life

of them violent and

many

deaths,

shocking.

was

one whose existence had been pure as a snow-flake, and as easily dissolved, should pass away when her mind was already gone, thus calmly and

fitting

that

silently,

and by means so

gentle.

struggle,

fear,

not even consciousness of what presently must needs happen, "incapable of her own distress,"* when her eyes close * ' '

Incapable

like,

the shut at

unconscious. "

stress of weather.

sundown of

"Distress," as

the water-lilies.

when seamen

talk of

The Willow. "Ascaunt,"

may be proper

to say,

35 the reading in the

and fourth quarto editions of Hamlet 1604, 1605, and 1611, also in the fifth, undated, though The two in the first folio, 1623, changed to "aslant." second,

third,

words have precisely the same meaning, and which of them shall be adopted is purely a matter of taste.

There

no other

allusion in Shakspere to the willow

as an object of the landscape, not even to the fragilis;

though we find several

smaller kinds of Salix

known

as osiers

of the mminalis, and which are

common

references to the

little

and

still

withies, forms

used by basket-

makers, as in the olden time for shields and coracles. Friar Lawrence's "willow-cage," in I

must

With is

fill

this

baleful

Romeo and Juliet:

willow-cage of ours

weeds and precious juiced flowers

be understood as a

little

calathus, such as Perse-

phone carried. Cassio's "twiggen bottle," in Othello, one enveloped in wicker-work, something after ii., 3, was the fashion of a Florence flask. to Olivia, in Twelfth Night,

lot to

show

i.,

devotedness, I

Make me a

When Viola, talking says Ah did it fall to !

would

willow-cabin at your gate,

she means that rather than be away from her love, she would be content to live at his door with shelter no better than that of a bird-cage.

the withy, being so pliable, character

In Love's Labour's Lost,

an emblem of weakness of

Those thoughts

me were

oaks, to thee like osiers bowed.

The Shakspere Flora.

36 In plant

As You

mentioned

If, iv.,

the natural habitat of the

West of this place, down in the neighbouring bottom, The rank of osiers by the murmuring stream Left on your right hand, brings you to the place.

So again

in the Passionate Pilgrim-.

When

Cytherea

all in

love forlorn,

longing tarriance for Adonis made Under an osier growing by a brook.

this last,

however, "osier"

probably used in the

sense of willow.

When as in the

introduced metaphorically, the willow appears

Merchant of

Venice, v., i

In such a night,

Stood Dido with a willow in her hand

Upon the wild To come again

The

sea-banks, and waft her love to Carthage.

original tale represents

Nay. her watch-tower, "beating her

her as too busy upon bosom with repeated

fair

blows, and tearing her golden locks." Terque quaterque manus pectus percussa decorum, Florentesque abscissa comas.

Shakspere

bosom

right all the same.

Whether she beat her

or not, he simply employs in these beautiful lines,

in another form, the celebrated figure in the

Psalms

we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion; we hanged our harps

"By

the rivers of Babylon there

upon the willows meaning

in the

midst thereof," in the "'midst"

middle of the

city.

That no

literal fact

The Willow.

intended by the Psalmist, any more than in the Dido The captive Hebrews story, scarcely needs the saying. is

no more suspended

harps upon willows or any

their

other trees, than the forests of Palestine "clapped their

hands," or than the valleys, covered with corn, "shouted

The phrase

for joy."

both in

spirit

purely figurative, harmonizing

and form, with a thousand others

in the

To all appearance, "hanging up the inspired volume. with was the Hebrews a current saying, adopted harps" probably from Job xxx., 31,

mourning, and

"My

harp

organ"

"into the voice of them that weep."

when

Happy

how

the day

to discriminate, before

they accept, between the "letter which spirit which giveth life."

killeth,

and the

get at the sense of the Shaksperean words,

have thus to ascertain,

first,

scriptural

that

one are the But

Babylonica.

the earliest

step,

really meant by "willow." both Shakspere's willow and the

the determination of what current idea

common "weeping

this is

willow," Salix

a native of China;

was not

carried westward until a comparatively recent period,

received

its

specific Latin

knew no more did, this

and

him

original

name

in error.

and

The Hebrews

of the Salix Babylonica than Shakspere it

until

was quite a stranger, not arriving in

many years Hebrew word (usually

country

the sense of those contained

demands

the psalm, and this

The

turned to

in the presence of all such passages, secular as well

as sacred, people shall learn

some kind of musical pipe

after

his

death.

The

transliterated ^arabhitn)

The Shakspere Flora.

38 was, like

other Old Testament

many

terms, one of collective

Hebrew

signification.

botanical

included the

Populus Euphratica; probably that charming shrub, the silver elaeagnus

;

probably also the agnus-castus and the

oleander, and not impossibly, a genuine

mean

certainly did not

The

only.

employed in Ezekiel

xvii., 5.

Hebrew upon

the

The

In two

occasions.

In one

nothing sorrowful;! in the fourth the

simply part of a geographical in the psalm,

Septuagint

Judges

osiers

trtatc,

The

word

the

withies,

Hebrew

proper

xvi., 7.

name;!

the

fifth,

word

the verse

without any legitimate reason, by the

translated

for

own

their

willow,

'arabhim are mentioned

five different

instances the associations are distinctly joyous.*

Homer

had moreover, with the Hebrews, a appellation of its own, tsaphtsdphah, the word

distinct

there

But

Salix.

so called,

strictly

willows

used

and which

by old have

also

name, yetharim,

translators of the Vulgate followed

and

Wiclif, put salices in all the passages. from the Vulgate, has in his earlier version, translating suit,

"In

withies in the

instrumens;" and

myddes of

it,

wee heengen vp oure "In salewis in the

in the later one,

myddil thereof, we hangiden vp oure organs."

Coverdale

(1536), and Tyndall (1549), return to the indefinite "Willows" appears first in expression "upon the trees." edition, 1560 (the first in which the were divided into verses), and as this was the chapters

the

Geneva

*Levit.,

xxiii., 40.

Isaiah, xliv., 4.

J Isaiah, xv. , 7

tjob,

xl., 22.

The Willow. edition chiefly used in private houses

39 and

families during

the reign of Elizabeth, and up to 1611, in it

was the form of the Bible

well read.

It is the

Geneva, at

likelihood

all

which Shakspere was so all events, which we are

to regard as the parent-source, after the Septuagint, of

now under

the association

Nature, as

review.

we have

Haunting the calm and silent pathway by the stream, which in invitation to more or the unhappy is so like the "shadowy desert:" "coloured by the

seen,

spirit."

droop or "weep;" having leaves so long,

less inclined to

narrow, and acutely pointed, that it

them, trickling gently,

the rain

falls

no wonder that these elegant trees, the 'arabhim, various kinds, seemed to the sad-hearted

tears

when

drips from the extremities like

their

Hebrews

representative

their

own

feelings.

describe unhappiness under the exquisite figure of hanging their harps

upon the branches, was but another do otherwise. At

Orientals could hardly

step.

almost imperceptibly, the. phrase transmutes, as just seen, into

hanging them upon "willows."

little

last,

we have

Language,

and give permanence to a pretty image, thenceforwards makes the willow the symbol of grief in general, and especially of the grief of disappointed always ready to

and so

love;

utilize

at last

we have

the willow which

Dido

waft in vain, cut from no tree in nature, yet quite as true

and

real to the imagination.

Greek or Latin usage

emblem of sorrow occurs

allusion to the

any one of the showing that the origin of the Observe supplied purely by the Septuagint.

willow as an

poets,

The Shakspere Flora.

also,

before

Dido

leave

of unhappy

the tale

that

her,

accepted by Shakspere as told by Virgil, which Dido, in reality, never saw yEneas.

untruthfully.

She lived two hundred years before the time of the it that he bestowed

famous Trojan, and not upon her was either his caresses or Helen's robe.

must answer

Never mind.

Virgil

though one regrets that he should have so wantonly sullied the memory of a noble lady: whatever the historical facts, the poetry remains intact,

and

for

it is

himself,

in this for us to rejoice.

was no new

event either for even Virgil to describe. The pictures in If the great poets are contemporaneous with all ages.

one "bonnie Doun" has been sung unrecorded have paradise,

end

helped after the

give

of,

a thousand others

summer-evening

same fashion

As long

as hers

who

as the

world endures

will point to her lettered poplar,

and the willow

plucked the "rose."

CEnone

be waft anew upon "wild sea-banks." We are never at liberty, under any circumstances, to

To take care, put anything into Shakspere of our own. same moment, that we miss nothing; to seek at

at the all

times to

quite

elicit

legitimate,

the charms of his undertones,

perhaps

our

bounden

duty.

still

The

Ophelia passage itself seems another utterance of the above idea. She might have died on land, and in any other way, but the willow "ascaunt the brook" gives the event a tenfold pathos to the imagination. In Othello Shakspere gives us a varied rendering of the

celebrated

old ballad

printed in the

Roxburghe

The Willow. collection

(i.,

171),

his love."

suit the

new

"The complaint

adapts

41 of a lover forsaken

quite legitimately, so as to

it,

character, that of

Desdemona

the ill-fated

mother had a maid called Barbara; She was in love; and he, she loved, proved mad,* And did forsake her she had a song of willow,

old thing 'twas, but

And

she died singing Will not go from my

But

And

sing

Then comes "willow,

go hang it

;

Emilia,

one

all at

side,

poor Barbara.

with

itself,

willow."

troubles, a line or two of

dying

express'd her fortune,

That song, to-night, mind I have much to do

head

the song

willow,

it.

sustaining

its

sorrowful refrain,

By and by, after comes from the lips tender imagery

the

other also of to

the

end: I will play the swan,

And

die in music,

Even when hope

" "Willow, willow, willow

says Victor

gone,

Hugo, and

despair comes, Song remains.

One

other serious reference

the willow

this

connection occurs in Shakspere, $rd King Henry the Sixth,

iii.,

repeated in

iv.,

Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower shortly, I'll wear a willow garland for his sake.

And lastly, we have it introduced jocularly, when Much Ado, ii., i, Benedick, laughing in his sleeve

in at

Claudio, proposes to go to the "next" or nearest willow, These are all the for a garland, "as being forsaken." *

Wild, inconstant, heartless.

The Shakspere Flora.

Shaksperean allusions, but it would be easy to cite others from contemporary authors, as when Spenser gives the

when Montanus, about to wed Lodge, Phrebe, throws away his of willow." Chaucer had "garland already used it in the construction of the funeral pyre in Palamon and Arrite. willow to the "forlorne paramour," and in

at last

THE YEW

( Taxus baccata).

That Shakspere was well acquainted with the yew there can be no doubt. Though not so common as the oak or the beech,

famous

tree.

part of our island

secluded parts of excepting, its

unpossessed of

genuine ancient Briton, all

the mountain-ash

perhaps,

this

occurs in the

More than any

old forests.

love of loneliness.

other

noted for

Wild and desolate places are

enjoyed; rooted in the crevices,

clings

even to vertical

rocks, where it can be touched by no other plant, and will have no companions but the sunshine and the rain^ Compared with other British trees, it is the most massive

and imperturbable of

knowing nothing of storm or In early summer its perennial relieved awhile by pretty sprays of new-born all,

tempest, heat or cold.

darkness

scarlet berries,

autumn the boughs are decked with which the birds soon take away. At all

other times the

yew

verdure; and in late

presents the ideas alone of antiquity

and imperishableness, and if we do not exactly admire its ancient form, none can fail to recognize in it a grandeur almost unique.

The Yew. The

classical poets

ful side

connected

this tree

with the mourn-

Silius Italicus, in his description of the

of death.

nether world, places a yew-tree in the midst

595-6).

(xiii.

Claudian goes so far as to put torches made of the wood in the hands of the furies (Rapt. Pros, iii., 386). Christianity took the opposite view, finding in it the

symbol of Immortality the cheerful side of death or which all Christians think primarily and with

that of

most energy. In the olden times every village church in our island would seem either to have been erected near a yew, or to have had one planted alongside. The countexamples in rural graveyards bear witness to

less extant

the ancient practice, and

custom must have been no

He knew

the tree best, in

all

Hence

such enclosures.

Shakspere the reverend than to ourselves.

less familiar

likelihood, as

an inmate of

the introduction of the

yew

Romeo and Juliet: Under yon yew-trees

lay thee all along,

Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground, So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread (Being loose, infirm, with digging up of graves),

But thou shalt hear

it.

(v., 3.)

Balthasar, again, in a later part of the scene, says

As I

did sleep under this yew-tree here, my master and another fought,

dreamt

And

that

master slew him.

Shakspere constantly assigns to other countries and ages the customs and usages of his native landof this, in

due course, we

shall

have many

illustrations

that

The Shakspere Flora.

should place yew-trees in a graveyard at Mantua would thus be quite natural; but the practice above indicated

would seem

have been very generally followed

Christian Europe during the Middle Ages, so that in the

present place, there

at all events,

is,

Identified in this beautiful

idea of futurity,

no inconsistency.

manner with the Christian

was natural, again, that sprigs of yew

should be employed in funeral ceremonies:

My O

shroud of white, stuck

prepare

all

with yew,

Twelfth Night,

ii.,

Immortelles and "everlastings" were not grown in the The first ever seen in England Elizabethan times. arrived only during the reign of Charles

modern if

Few

of the

been known more than a century,

Wreaths made of these glossy flowers waited of three hundred years later, or, instead

so long.

for the

favourites have

rites

"sprigs

"amaranths."

new reason

yew," perchance

we might have had

the

Contemplating possibility, there is be glad that Shakspere lived just when

he did, unoppressed by the lore of to-day, embosomed in the simplicities.

Though

the juice of the sweet

and

viscid berries

not

harmful, the seeds of the yew, and the leaves, are deadly poison.

Taken

ance of the

tree,

in connection with the

sombre appear-

and the profound shadow

casts, this,

we may be

sure, accounts sufficiently for the unhappy associations in which it is always found in ancient verse.

In any case

explains the allusion in Macbeth, where

the witches, in their gloomy cave, the cauldron boiling in

The Yew.

the middle, prepare the mixture that their accursed sorcery

to give effect to

Double, double toil and trouble, Fire, burn, and cauldron bubble.

Eye

of newt, and toe of frog, of bat, and tongue of dog,

Wool

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's

sting,

Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing.

Liver of blaspheming Jew, Gall of goat, and slips of yew.

The

(iv.,

I.)

very specially interesting identification of the

venom comes to the scene in Hamlet where

with the idea of

front,

that fearful

the

yew

however, in

spirit

of the

murdered king describes the circumstances of his death. Note here that Shakspere's way of dealing with the great

body of man forms one of the most

truth of the spiritual

Shakspere's belief striking adjuncts of his philosophy. is one in which the wise and good of all ages have

concurred, and dulity.

set aside neither

Men whose

opinion

ridicule nor incre-

worth having never at

any time deny even the simplest proposition

till

they

are prepared with positive evidence to the contrary. " Hamlet," says the murdered monarch, addressing his

son mine orchard, so the whole ear of Denmark,

'Tis given out that sleeping in

A serpent stung me

;

by a forged process of my death Rankly abused but know, thou noble youth, Is

;

The

serpent that did sting thy father's

Now

wears his crown

life

The Shakspere Flora.

Sleeping within mine orchard,

custom always of the afternoon, Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,

With

juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,

And

in the

The

leperous distilment.

Thus was

Of life,

sleeping,

by a

brother's hand,

of crown, of queen, at once despatched.

reckoning made, but sent to

With

What kind "hebenon" opinions

porches of mine ears did pour

my imperfections

all

my account, my head. (i.,

5.)

poison Shakspere intended by has been a subject of much conjecture, liquid

oscillating

chiefly

poisons in general, those

between

who hold

"henbane" and

the latter view over-

looking the minute description of the symptoms and

The word

pathological results.

form, not of "henbane,"

or, as

in question

a varied

some suppose, of "ebony,"

but of the

name by which

five of the

Gothic languages; the

the

yew is known in at least name which appears in

Marlowe, Spenser, and other writers of the Elizabethan era as "hebon," In few, the blood of Hydra Herne's bane, juide of hebon, and Cocytus' breath,

The

And

all

the poisons of the Stygian pool,

Jew of Malta,

and which

"The

in the

first

quarto

itself

iii.,

spelt hebona.

yew," says Lyte, translating Dodoens, "is called in

high Dutch ibenbaum, and accordingly, in base Almaigne,

ibenboom."

"This

tree,"

he goes

say,

"is

The Yew.

altogether venomous, and against man's nature. Such as do but only sleepe under the shadowe thereof .

become

The

sicke,

extract

and sometimes they die" (Herbal, used, he says further on,

apothecaries, to the great perile

diseased people"

how

(p.

768).

1578).

"by ignorant

and danger of the poor

From

the latter sentence

the murderer was enabled to possess

may gather himself of the deadly juice, which he

not to be sup-

posed as preparing with his own hands, but as procuring from one of the herb-doctors who kept it for sale. Why Shakspere should say "hebenon" instead of "yew" does The scene being laid at not appear, nor does it signify. Elsinore,

perhaps he was careful known to be Danish.*

employ a word

believed or

The

ancient celebrity of the

bows needs no

archers'

wood

illustration.

of the

yew

for

"Ityraeos," says

"the yews are bent torquentur in arcus;" bows" (Georgic ii., 448). Englishmen need think only of Agincourt and Crecj. In Richard the

Virgil, "taxi

into Ityraean

Second it is adverted to in a very curious passage, the idea of the mortal certainty of the well-aimed arrow

being adjoined to that of the action of the poison

The very beadsmen learn to bend their bows Of double-fatal yew against thy state. (iii., 2.) *

The above

before

teaching as to the true sense of "hebenon" has been

It was with great pupils for at least twenty-five years. pleasure that I saw my views confirmed in the report of a paper read by the Rev. W. A. Harrison, before the London Shakspere

Society,

May

I2th, 1882.

The Shakspere Flora.

In Titus Andronicus we have an echo of the old imagery

classical

me they would bind me here body of a dismal yew. (ii., 3.)

But straight they told

Unto

the

THE ASPEN. The in

aspen, Populus tremula, though at the present day England by no means common, would seem to have

been, in the Plantagenet times, abundant. fourth year of

wood

For, in the

Henry V. (1417) the employment of the

for purposes other

than the manufacture of arrows

was forbidden by Act of Parliament. Faery Queene, says it was "good for

Spenser, in the staves,"

whence,

perhaps, the repeal of the law under James the First.

Excelled

all

our

existence, the aspen

and

native

foresters

length

one of the most beautiful

still

interesting of British trees.

The

stature

incon-

siderable; the flowers are inconspicuous; but the foliage is

ample and

refreshing.

the

leaves are

stalks,

which are

Individually

They have very long

nearly circular.

flattened laterally at the upper part, the blade quivering, in

consequence,

Directly the wind

with noise, as

with stirs,

the see

lightest

how

breath

wind.

delicate the ripple!

were, of a gently falling shower, though

the branch, as a whole, does not

stir.

This charming

observable also in the nearly allied Populus nigra, the common or old English "Black poplar," which

peculiarity

latter tree is

perhaps intended in certain references to

The Aspen. the aspen, and vice versd, or

No wonder

therein.

made for

use of

when

49 included

at all events

poets have

that in all ages the

the subject for illustration has asked

a sensitive plant.

memorable narrative

appears in Scripture in the

Sam.,

"When

23,

v.,

thou

hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the bekhctim" (in the

A. V. most unfortunately mistranslated "mulberry

trees"), illustrating

how

phenomena of

the least of the

nature are no less immediately under the Divine control

than the greatest and grandest, and recalling the other and equally suggestive picture of the "still small voice."

Old Homer uses the

flutter,

not a leaf standing

idle, as

an image of the ceaseless whirling of the spindles by Alcinous' handmaidens (Od. vii., 106). Hypermnestra, in Ovid, tells us that just like this was the anxious Chaucer adopts

beating of her heart (Hyp. Lync. 40). that beautiful line almost verbatim.

Shakspere knew the tree shake!

well.

"Feel, master,

Yea, in very truth

aspen leaf" (2nd Henry the Fourth, Andronicus,

ii.,

do ii.,

how

as 'twere

4).

in Titus

O, had the monster seen those

lily hands Tremble, like aspen leaves, upon the lute.

The proper and

actual

name

of the tree

simply

"aspe," Anglo-Saxon aespe, as in Chaucer:

"As

oak,

fir,

birch, aspe, alder, holm, poplere."

Palemon and Arcite.

Aspen

the adjectival form, "tree" or "timber" being

understood.

The Shakspere Flora. Though all

inconspicuous, the flowers of the aspen, as of

the other poplars, are remarkably pretty in structure.

They

are produced in the shape of catkins, long before

the leaves expand, in the earliest of the Easter times,

When

winter, slumbering in the open air, his softened looks a dream of spring,

Wears on differing,

however, from most other catkins, in possession

of abundance of a peculiar soft grey woolliness.

amiable mind, that loves the

little

For an

as well as the large,

not a pleasure more thorough and unwearying than the examination of our British tree-flowers, so

there

curious

and

delicate

the formation.

Cljapt^r

THE LINDEN. In the line-grove which weather-fends your

cell.

Tempest, v.,

HAKSPERE'S which

"line"

at present,

1700,

which

latter

the beautiful tree

though only since about the

called

wrongfully

name belongs

"lime,"

an Indian

Citrus, long celebrated for its fruit,

"Line"

nearly related to the lemon. original,

itself is

and

not the

being a shortened form of the Anglo-Saxon is connected in turn with lentus, pliant,

lind,

which

and

evidently

bark

refers

material

anciently

recognized,

who name

some

for

the

for

and

adverted

unknown reason tree

the

usefulness

string

Latin

the

inner

cordage,

very

prefers

Horace,

the

displicent

Greek nexa

The Shakspere Flora.

"chaplets woven with che rind of the

philyra corona, line"

(Carm.

corrupted one,

more than once

Now

vindicated in

in early verse,

the old herbals,

all

where

rhymes

the adjectival form of the word,

and

to thine

thy name, good fellow, said he, the leaves of lyne.

tell

Under

"Linden"

The Shaksperean spelling, which amend by alteration to the modern

38).

1.,

some have thought

"tree,"

being understood, thus corresponding with "aspen." Less robust than the forest monarch, inferior in dignity to the elm, the linden

most

is still

entitled to count with the

delightful of English trees.

the vegetable

analogue of that happy condition of body

which the

denominated eWapKoe, neither fat nor but gracefully intermediate. It is one of the trees

ancient Greeks lean,

which go with the acacia and the birch in their representative

character,

conveying a

certain

elegant

idea

of feminine contour and attributes, as distinguished from the

stalwart

though

less

amiable masculine

chestnut.

Growing wild plentifully in woods in the form called by botanists Tilia parvifolia, in the improved one called JSuropcea,

has been from time immemorial a chosen

ornament of parks and pleasure-grounds, and being often planted in avenues, has given new enrichment even to nature.

The

peculiarly

good

qualities

consist,

symmetry of the outline, often branches lower the bending to the earth, so as

hardly necessary to add, in the

form a natural tent;

the

remarkable ease and

lightness of air and habit, this coming of the long stalks

The Linden.

of the thin broad leaves; and in the abundance, in high

summer, of the honeyed and fragrant bloom.

What cell

should Shakspere

other tree

shelter to the

home

Prospero,"

adjoining grove,

select

give

"The

of Prospero and Miranda?

been remarked, "with its distinct and pleasing

has

one of the most

conceptions of natural scenery to be found in his works." Nestling under the lindens which "weather-fend" it, in this quiet island

home we have

not only seclusion and

repose, the boughs disturbed only at times by the "light

pinions of Ariel;" but that which gives to the Tempest one of the only two of the romantic comedies produced

by Shakspere which owes its plot to no previous author its very marked and specially attractive interest, namely, the disclosure

affords of the writer's

own

personality.

Shakspere though present, is veiled; in Prospero we have him, not only beside us, but as the

Everywhere real

and

else,

man.

living

Prospero

acquainted with

the secrets of nature; he penetrates men's minds discerns their purposes.

the authority calls

has

all

the wise prevision,

and the gentleness of genuine power.

up magnificent

all

and

visions; at his bidding "the air is

filled with sweet music," or with the sounds of hound and horn; he raises or quells the storm; he commands, and a splendid banquet is spread.* Add to this the

immortal words,

My Was dukedom *Rev.

Hunter.

New

library

large enough,

Illustrations of Shakspere,

i.,

180.

The Shakspere Flora.

54 and

his infinite capacity for pourtraying the purest

sweetest forms of

human

love

tionate, retiring, quite feminine

most exquisite

as one of his

himself

veritably here

Miranda, gentle,

Miranda, standing forth

and Shakspere

creations,

his powers, his

How

his genius, in perfect portrait.

and

affec-

temperament,

sweet, too, the idea

of those beautiful trees in their supply of arbours and How often were they sought as shelter shady alcoves !

from

the

by the dear girl who, "remembered" her "father's

sunshine

noonday

when most enamoured,

still

precepts."

The honey

of the flowers

Where

not forgotten

the bee sucks, there suck

for surely this is the intent of the passage, quite spoiled

by the suggested change of the word to "lurk." Ariel, when he has finished his tasks, desires nothing more than to

command

it;

Merrily, merrily, shall I live now, Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

I.)

(v.,

In benevolence to the bees no tree wild in Europe excels the linden.

Were we not

standing beneath, had

sure that Shakspere,

many a time

listened

drowsy murmur, we might think he had been reading the story of the good old

loved his garden: white

lilies,

vervain,

"Here

man

planting

in Virgil

among

who

the shrubs,

and esculent poppies, he equalled

in his contented mind, the wealth of kings.

was he

their lately

to pluck the rose of spring,

the fruits of autumn; and even

and the

first

when sad winter

The

first

to gather split

the

The Linden. rocks with with

frost,

and bridled the current of the streams very season was he cropping the

ice, yes, in that

Lindens had he, and pines, in was the first to abound

locks of the soft acanthus.

great abundance; he, therefore,

with prolific bees, and to strain the frothy honey from the well-pressed combs."

One

(Georgic

the constituent

trees

131-141.)

iv.,

Prospero's grove

appears to be spoken of in an earlier scene,

when

be used

apparel"

for

the

display

the

"glistening

designed as a "stale" or bait for Caliban and his thievish But the intent of the word is disputed, companions.

some of the

best critics understanding

"clothes line," such as

to denote a

used in washerwomen's drying-

Mr. Halliwell is of this opinion (vol. i. p. 39). But supported also by Knight (Comedies ii., 440). Shakspere would hardly mix up with poetry so beautiful

yards.

}

It is

as the picture of Prospero's If

are to think at

clothes lines,

this

referred to,

idea so prosaic.

and incomparably and

well as congenial to the time

remember

hedgerow and the scene,

home an

of the purpose of laundresses'

quite as satisfactory,

agreeable, as

place, to

all

country-folks'

grass-plat.

employment of the

Further on, in the same

particular "line," whatever

upon two

may

be,

occasions, jocularly.

THE HAWTHORN. The "milk-white thorn" the hedgerows with that

its

literally "scents

that in early

fragrant

bloom

summer dapples the sweet

the evening gale"

is,

May"

the

The Shakspere Flora.

linden, a genuine British plant,

man, one of the most

distinct

and when unmolested by and beautiful our island

It occurs in every part of Europe, and extends even into Asia, but nowhere presents a lovelier

possesses.

spectacle than with ourselves, the climate of England

being peculiarly favourable to its nature. The charms increase, as with many other trees, with lapse of years; hold upon

the

life

also remarkable

in truth, with the longsevals, so that,

When

never look antiquated. the greensward of

thorns count,

however

old, they

standing alone, as

some ancient

park,

how

round head, the bright green of the opening

large

upon

beautiful the leaves,

the snow of the innumerable blossoms, and in the

when

fall,

the foliage reddens, the emulation of the ruddy

Unequalled, in England, for "quick-set" fences, is in these, by much use of

fruit.

the natural habit of the plant the

shears,

entirely

Hedges composed of

effaced.

have been in vogue from the earliest ages of civilization; the name of "hawthorn" itself is a testimony thereto,

"haw" being no more than a modern shape of Anglo-Saxon word as

familiar

for

a hedge

to Shakspere they

the

were

almost always, when he

ourselves;

invites us to thought of this delightful old plant,

with reference, however, to the hawthorn as an unspoiled Tree.

First,

always cast

we have upon

the cool and pleasant shadow,

grass,

the hawthorn, in the wild or

natural state, never hindering the growth of turf:

what a

life

were

this

How

sweet,

how

lovely

The Hawthorn.

Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade

shepherds, looking on their

Than doth a

rich embroider'd

silly

sheep,

canopy

kings that fear their subjects' treachery ? it doth, a thousand times it doth.

yes,

And

The shepherd's homely curds, to conclude. His cold thin drink out of his leathern bottle, His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade, All which serene and sweetly he enjoys, beyond a prince's delicates, His viands sparkling in a golden cup, His body couched in a curious bed When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him. Is far

3rd Henry In the

Midsummer Nighfs Dream

the Sixth,

ii.,

the hawthorn helps

to give that charming picture of the delicious season

marked not more by More

When

itself

than by the anemones

Your tongue's sweet air, tunable than lark to shepherd's ear, wheat

green,

when hawthorn-buds

appear. (I, i.)

this beautiful fairy-tale

would-be players

BOTTOM QUINCE

met ? and here's a marvellous convenient place for This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthornall

Pat, pat

our rehearsal.

supplies shelter also to the

Are we

;

brake our tyring-house.

How

admirable, again, the indication of the season,

without naming

it,

King Lear:

Through the sharp hawthorn blows

the cold wind. (iii.,

For

in winter,

4.)

the hawthorn, being a deciduous tree,

The Shakspere Flora.

58 affords shelter

having cast

no longer; and

not only because of

this

the under-structure

leaves

its

singularly

and scanty; through the hawthorn, more than through any other tree of its kind, the wind whistles "to-and-fro conflicting," and there is not one that, when thin

leafless,

affords

"pitiless storm."

well

marked

and desolate

less

shelter

The

from the "pelting" of the

features in question are especially

aged and wind-beaten trees upon bleak and commons, thus giving the

heaths

hawthorn a place incomparably piteous scene in which

find

just

and

true

man who has proved How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is

poor broken-hearted old

To have

a thankless child

Rosalind, as usual, brightens

man

in the

the foremost figure the

so bitterly

everything:

"There's a

abuses our young plants with cutting 'Rosalind' upon their barks; hangs odes upon Ah, for a hawthorns, and elegies upon brambles." haunts the

forest, that

glimpse of the heart-sunshine upon her countenance as she plucks them off the light of her steadfast eyes as she peruses The boughs are not snowy now, but aglow "I found him," .says with berries, for it is autumn. !

Celia, a

minute before, "under a

tree,

a dropped

acorn," her comparison suggested by the last object she

In the entire drama has noticed on her sylvan way. there is not the slightest allusion to spring, spring productions, or spring

phenomena.

Everything mentioned

has the scent and hue of ripe October. hawthorns, like the oaks, are heavy with

fruit.

Rosalind's

The Hawthorn.

In one instance the citation of the hawthorn

and

phorical,

Ado, upon the lively old

Sir

of the facetious.

lines

John,

meta-

Much

Benedick's of the willow, in

Coming from

could hardly be anything else

"I cannot cog, and say this and that, like a many of these lisping hawthorn buds that come like women in man's apparel, and smell like Bucklersbury in simple time."

Merry

Wives,

The

iii.,

picture

the

"Verdant Greens" of the day, their mincing and affected talk, and their overdone self-perfumery, is perfect. Bucklersbury,

a famous

London

old

dealers,

herbs

that

period,

chiefly

was

street,

Shakspere's time noted for the number of

its

druggists,

odoriferous

"simples," in the popular vocabulary.

dried

Why

the

knight should select "hawthorn-buds" rather than any other kind, as good for his scented foplings, does not, It is

however, appear. that

little

singular, to say the least,

one of the old English names

just expanding,

for these buds,

when

"Ladies' meat."

Mention of the hawthorn

scarcely ever

made by

the

ancient or classical poets, and then only in reference to its

supposed efficacy in averting the

evil effects

of unkind

enchantments, intimidating demons, and healing snakebites. Of the first -named superstition we have an instance in the Fasti, where a

wand made of

the

wood

bestowed with a view to the protection of the sleeping infant from the red-jawed harpies (vi., 129, 165).

Chaucer makes passage.

amends

a well-known beautiful

Most indeed of the old English poets have

The Shakspere Flora.

something to say about the hawthorn, and this, generally its bloom.

in connection with the season of

Amongst

the

Decking the

many buds proclaiming May, fields in

holiday array,

Striving who shall surpass in braverie, Marke the fair blooming of the hawthorn tree,

Who

finely cloathed in

Fills full the

a robe of white,

wanton eye with May's

delight.

Remember, while reading these and

all

English verses, that the year, in the time

old

similar

of Chaucer,

Spenser, Shakspere, and onwards up to 1752, reckoned

from twelve days later than at present, "May-day" being then what with ourselves is May i3th. All descriptions of spring and of the vernal charms of nature apply to a corresponding or twelve days' later period.

THE BOX-TREE. Concerning other aboriginal British trees, Shakspere little to say, and the allusions, when they occur,

has very

have reference almost exclusively, to the economic

uses.

introduce natural objects for purposes beyond simple illustration, or the giving of elegance to a picture, was

part, as already observed, of his design.

ground

for surprise, accordingly, that

amount.

The

There

what remains

example (if this be really British), being an evergreen, and extremely dense in foliage, becomes in Twelfth Night, ii., 5, a good trifling

hiding-place,

"Get ye

box-tree, for

all

three into the box-tree."

must not think of it from the diminutive variety employed

The

Box-tree.

in gardens as a fence or "edging" for flower-borders, nor even from the bushy character attained in shrubberies.

When

the circumstances of its long

the box-tree

dimensions. shire, there is

life

are fairly congenial,

capable of attaining very considerable At Clifton Lodge, near Shefford, Bedford-

one (unless since destroyed,) which, when to be close on twenty-two

measured in 1865, was found feet

high;

the general

twenty-six feet;

spread of

and the trunk

the

was

branches

a yard above the

How much

ground, was fifteen inches in diameter.

the

box was esteemed by the ancients as an ornamental Ovid refers to it in his evergreen, hardly needs saying. perpetuoque virens buxus (Met.

In another place

x., 97).

he well characterizes the abundant and densafoliis (A. A.,

iii.,

691).

in that beautiful passage

close-set foliage,

Virgil speaks of the

where he describes the

same

hills as

undans, "waving," the epithet, which properly belongs to the branches of the trees, being transferred from the When introduced into living thing to the inanimate one. the intensely this

artificial

patient tree

gardens of the ancient Romans,

was subjected,

the yew,

to that

and unnatural forms, which in the Shaksperean age had become fashionable in England, and of which there are memorials still extant. odious clipping into

The

practice

was

grotesque

consistent

with

the

manners

and

customs of a people who loved barbarities and the blood of gladiators; but it is one from which all genuine and cultured taste recoils, and with Shakspere, sure,

found no favour.

we may be

Fine examples of the box in

The Shakspere Flora. unmolested

its

were

state,

all

likelihood,

the

Shaksperean age, abundant in this country. The number of ornamental evergreens introduced at that early hortiperiod was

cultural

limited,

The

that

they

might be

told

upon the

laurels, the

now

hardly imagine, and commensurate pride be taken

Mahonias, the rhododendrons of to-day, were quite unknown. In their absence the box would be esteemed to a degree we can fingers.

in the spectacle of

up the it

its

green perfection.

Scriptural idea of the tree, or that

to us

secularizes

the

emblem of

fortitude,

but

into the simply imperturbable:

He like The

Christian

Chaucer takes which presents

was

to behold

and cold. The Knight's

box-tree, or the aspis dead

Tale.

THE HOLLY. So with that supreme evergreen, old England's indomione that shines Shakspere,

table holly, the only wild

every Christmas-tide, admired as

to-day

employed

we do

ourselves.

coral

its

in the Elizabethan period,

symbol of radiant death, glossy leaves and fitting

bracelets

just

Branches of holly were

victory,

by old usage, as the

life

triumphing over

scarlet berries

defeating frost

and snow; thus of the great Advent which Christmas commemorates. Still he makes mention of it only once, But who is in the little song in As You Like It, ii., 7. the singer,

and where

is it

sung?

In Arden, by Amiens,

The Birch. who and

received his inspiration from

found

abounding

its

presence of

the

63 beautiful

" green,"

wild

nature's

holly

satisfaction.

THE its

Notwithstanding

BIRCH.

incomparable grace of

figure,

the

and unique whiteness of the stem, and the features which lightsomeness of the depending tresses delicate

render

"the lady of the

woods," Shakspere again

speaks of the birch only once, and even then only for what it supplies. "I have not red," says old Turner, "of

any virtue the birch hath for

many good

uses,

and

in physic. for

Howbeit

none better than

serveth

for

betynge

of stubborn boys, that either bye, or will not learn."

(Herbal, 1551,).

Fond

fathers,

Having bound up the threatening twigs of birch, Only to stick it in their children's sight For terror, not to use in time the rod Becomes more mock'd than fear'd. Measure for Measure, ;

In attempting to readings,

i. ,

obviously incorrect Shaksperean

we must take very

further astray. Is

mend

may be

particular care not to

go yet

permitted, however, to ask,

possible that the birch can be the tree intended in

the very perplexing passage in the Tempest

And Whose shadow Being

lass-lorn.

thy broom

groves, the dismissed bachelor loves, (iv.,

I.)

The Shakspere Flora.

Birch-twigs are used for the manufacture of

and "brooms"

besoms

as well as for the stimulation of boys such

as old Turner's,

and Shakspere may have called the tree, common custom of language,

in conformity with a very after the

implement manufactured from it. "broom"? In any

that he really wrote

meant the Spartium Scoparium, cannot

The

supposed.

dimensions, even

The

birch,

capacities

when

at the

the

Are we sure case, that

for

moment be

Spartium,

and

its

largest, forbid the idea.

on the other hand, would serve the purpose Slim

perfectly.

composition,

the

offering

fewest

movement of any trees accustomed impediments to grow in company, a more suitable retreat than a grove to free

of birches forlorn,

could hardly be offered to a purposeless,

and sauntering

"Shadow"

lover.

does

not

It is enough to necessarily imply a darkened covert. understand, in the present instance, a place of seclusion,

similar to Valentine's, This shadowy desert, unfrequented wood, I better love than flourishing, peopled towns.

Here can

And

I sit alone,

unseen of any,

to the nightingale's

Tune my

distresses,

complaining notes my woes.

and record

Two

THE The

ash,

beauty of

renowned, its

habit

spear-shafts

made from

profile,

in reference

the

v., 4.

ASH.

like the birch, for the

and

by Shakspere, except

Gentlemen of Verona,

wood

also

singular

passed over

to the strength

The Elm. O Mine arms about

My grained

let

that body,

twine

where against

ash a thousand times hath broke. Coriolanus,

figure

illustrated

of speech

above

just

"broom"), and fir-trees shall be

more common

the

iv., 5.

in language (as

meaning

probable

in that curious verse in

Nahum, "The

shaken"

the sense being

terribly

here in Shakspere,

(ii.,

3),

the spear-shafts,

dreadful day foretold, are to be brandished

which in the aloft.

THE ELM. The elm holds an agreeable place in Shakspere by reason of the beautiful image in the Midsummer Nights Dream; Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms. So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle

Gently entwist

the female ivy so

Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.

"Just as the tree;

so,

ivy clasp

(iv., I.)

and

love," Titania means, will

encircle the

during thy In 2nd Henry the Fourth 4) a "dead elm" furnishes an odd kind of satirical

slumbers, (ii.,

woodbine and the

embrace

thee."

metaphor; and in the Comedy of Errors, ii., 2, we have an allusion to the practice of the vine-cultivators of ancient Italy, to

young

Roman

who were accustomed

elm-trees, as

literature.

elm as masculine, F

The

many

to train their plants

times spoken of in old

passage again represents the

The Shakspere Flora.

Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine, Whose weakness, married to thy stronger state, Makes me with thy strength to communicate, with the addition of a most delicately beautiful setting forth of one of the loveliest instincts of woman, that one, which arising upon the strength and tenacity of her affections, leads her always to cling to

own

great pride

her mate, whose

render support.

one ever

preserved more thoroughly than Shakspere in pictures of the relation of the sexes, the perfect and healthy balance

manhood and womanhood which

pleased

God

design in the beginning.

THE ELDER. The homely, of

plant,

old-fashioned elder of the hedgerow, and

otherwise

hillsides

would become

hood, for

untenanted

by an arborescent

familiar to Shakspere in his boy-

not this to which every lad brought up in

One can

the country resorts for toys and pop-guns? easily

imagine the recollection of the sports of his school-

days that would suggest the image in Henry the Fifth, "That's a perilous shot out of an elder-gun, that a poor and private displeasure can do against a monarch" (iv.,

pith,

i);

and

Merry Wives, where the and compressible, so easily forced out, "what says my the reverse of "heart-of-oak," that other in the

so light

stands for

^Esculapius,

copious, creamy

Galen,

heart of elder?"

bloom of the

(ii.,

tree, precisely

3).

The

concurrent

The Sycamore. with midsummer,

somewhat honey-scented; the

rich

recommend themselves for a in such company we do not of foliage; so much the more

black-purple clusters of fruit

kind of wine or cordial; look for unpleasing scent

remarkable therefore the contrasted character adverted to in Cymbeline, where the tree supplies a

seasonable

metaphor quite

And

let

the stinking elder, grief, entwine,

His perishing root with the increasing

vine.

(iv., 2.)

In LOVJS Labour's Lost the poet shows his acquaintance with the old tradition preserved by Sir John Mandeville, playing at the same time,

upon the twofold meaning of

the word;

HOLOFERNES Begin, sir, you are my elder. BIRON Well followed Judas was hanged on an :

elder. (V., 2.)

Lastly, in Titus Andronicus, the play

one would gladly see

dismissed altogether from the Shaksperean brotherhood, an elder marks the scene of a tragic incident;

Look for thy reward the nettles at the elder- tree.

Among This

the pit,

and

this the elder-tree.

(ii.,

4.)

THE SYCAMORE. The sycamore

holds a place intermediate between the

trees, wild in our

distinct

own

island, of

which Shakspere had

personal knowledge, and those which

like the

The Shakspere Flora.

cedar, the cypress,

Now

hearsay.

naturalized

and the

myrtle, he talks of only from

and so thoroughly

universally diffused,

included

the

catalogues

indigenous British plants, in Shakspere's time the syca-

more had been

quite

recently

from the

introduced

mountainous parts of central Europe; and although he may have seen it in one of the "walks and places of of noblemen," where, according to Gerard, was "specially planted for the shadow's sake," 1596, the probabilities are that he used the name purely by pleasure it

adoption.

Every one has enjoyed the coolness given

summer by

the abundant vine-like leaves, recalling, while

in their green shade, the beautiful picture in the ^Eneid, Pinea silva mihi multos dilecta per annos, Lucus in. arce full summa, quo sacra ferebant, Nigranti picea, trabibusque obscurus acernis.*

Every one

prepared thereby for the corresponding

picture in Love's Labour's Lost,

Under I

the cool shade of a sycamore

thought to close mine eyes for half an hour

and can appreciate,

felt for this

tree

charming

Juliet's lover;

Underneath the grove of sycamore That westward roveth from the city's

"Upon

side,

early walking did I see your son.

Itomeo *

(v., 2),

equal measure, the preference

and Juliet,

a lofty mountain stood a piny wood, by

i. ,

through

years beloved, embowered with dark-hued firs, and the shady " boughs of the sycamore, whither they brought me sacred offerings.

many (ix.,

85-87.)

The Sycamore. There

of lingering doubt, after

trifle

while reading these two passages to

all,

whether

would not be better

think of the Plane, the tree of immemorial honour

with the ancients in respect of the delightfulness of the

shade

offers,

and

certain

have been known to

Shakspere by repute. To this day the sycamore has for " its appellation with the scientific, Pseudo-platanus," or

"the mock plane." different things

"Sycamore"

Matthiolus, the melia;

and the

There

with Shakspere,

Platanus

in Chaucer,

some kind of scandent

Leaf,

honeysuckle.

platanus,

itself

denoted several

the scriptural one, a species of

if,

shrub, probably the

no reason however

just possibly, not the

doubt that

Acer Pseudo-

would unquestionably be the yet nobler

orientalis.

tree, in its

fig;

the Flower

tree,

general character,

more imposing than the plane. There are loftier trees, and greener ones, and more flowery ones, but few present so large an aggregate of excellent qualities, these latter

including a certain air of gentleness and repose, and a capacity for affording a peculiarly agreeable shelter from the heat of the sun, though no tree produces fewer leaves in proportion to the general plenitude

The

of the foliage.

height ordinarily about seventy feet; the boughs spread widely, but not in disproportion to the altitude; is

the leaves, individually, resemble those of the vine, but the clefts are acute.

The

much

deeper, and the points are remarkably

flowers are borne in globular clusters, these

becoming spheres of brown seed, which dangle throughout the winter from the bare branches, as if ready and

The Shakspere Flora. waiting to drop to the ground, and present a singular spectacle, the only

The to

one of

original species

its

kind among forest

the Platanus orientalis

have been introduced into

Chancellor Verulam.

Shakspere

this

trees.

appears

country by Lord In it.

may have seen

any case the genuine sycamore has no greater claim upon the poets. Mention of the latter is made also in Barbara's "song of willow" (Othello,

iv., 3).

THE WILD-FLOWERS. Honi soit qui mal y pense,

write

flowers purple, blue, and white, Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery,

In emerald

tufts,

Merry Wives,

v., 5.

S Shakspere's favourite trees were those of the woods in which as a boy he was

accustomed to wander, absorbing "sweet influence," so are his wild-flowers those of

the Warwickshire meadows, trodden, we be The green fields sure, with equal delight. may around his native village, the quiet lanes, the borders of the pretty streamlets carrying bubbles to the Avon, were their

homes.

Here

was that he

first

plucked the

"pale primrose," cowslip and the early daffodil. To people who love him it is a source of the freckled

perennial enjoyment that in these sweet old sanctuaries

The Shakspere Flora.

of natural beauty, Shakspere's chosen wild-flowers

abound,

their original

and simple

Time, that deals so hardly with many stouter is

merciful to the

fragile

still

loveliness unchanged. things,

everything that

field-flower;

Shakspere talks of abides in the old haunts, renewing annual flow. No part of our island is

itself in beautiful

richer than Warwickshire in genuine wild-flowers, so that it is a matter of thankfulness that Shakspere lived not only when he did, but in his youthful days just where he did; not only in the country, but in the very heart of "merrie England," and in a region of peculiarly pleasing

again

self-adornment.

of any considerable

does not speak, as already

number of

said,

Inclu-

different species.

ding the two or three hedgerow flowering shrubs which count, by a kind of prescriptive right, with the factors of the wild

garland,

the

honeysuckle

sweet-brier; including also tants of the border-land

which he

are not wanted.

and

wit,

inhabi-

furze

and heather

for

More, in truth, barely a score. we have as it, is unique, bouquet,

is still

The

for perfection asks

none

besides.

The charm

great poet's flower-scenery consists not in the

and the

between weed and wild-flower

makes mention,

example, the total

some half-dozen of the

the variety of the

objects

of a

abundance

mentioned, but in the when those few

touches bestowed on a few, especially belong to the ranks of the "common." trustworthy tests, perhaps the final

test,

One

of the most

of the great poet,

he makes the old-fashioned seem new, and the unpretentious rare and golden; showing us, as he moves

that

The Wild-flowers. along, that the

most ordinary things of God's bestowal life to the inanimate, and voice,

are solar centres ; giving

and even song, to that which previously was silent. When this is done supremely, as by Shakspere, wise men There

are content.

a very remarkable difference also which he mentions these

in the degree of frequency with

Of allusions to the twenty or so of different species. violet there are no fewer than eighteen examples; the cowslip is noticed on six occasions; the orchis, the harebell, the

Lady-smock, and the dead-nettle appear, on a matter, it may be, after all,

the other hand, but once for congratulation, since

the

mind dwells upon

when

the instance stands alone,

with so

much

the

interest

In one or two cases the application is What "crow-flowers" are, and "cuckoo-

and

curiosity.

not

clear.

still is unproven ; probably they are not intended to be taken as special names, but as generic terms. Three considerations are always of great value

flowers,"

when

there

Is the plant

uncertainty.

believe to be

intended, one that grows naturally in Warwickshire, and that Shakspere

with?

may

in all likelihood

Secondly, what light can

herbalists,

and from

Shakspere

lastly,

different seasons,

have been familiar obtain from the old

And contemporary literature? never confuses the flowers of

what company

found in?

That

"oxlip" and "wild thyme" stand side-by-side in a well-

known charming song

no objection, since we are not "bank" referred to was

required to suppose that the

made

lovely

by both

once.

Shakspere's

flowers

The Shakspere Flora.

74 are

almost

every

those

instance

the

spring,

though his weeds belong almost exclusively to summer and autumn.

THE VIOLET. Over

this

immemorial and delicious

little

flower, the

Viola odorata, so far as regards Shakspere, happily there

can never be any demur. We have to thank him, note at the outset, not only for incomparable allusions to it, but for giving the name a fixity it never before possessed. Prior to the time of Shakspere, "violet" was one of the appellations borne by a dozen different flowers, some of

which

retain

still

it,

as in the case of the "water violet,"

Hottonia palustris, the Dames' or "Damascus violet," Hesperis matronalis, and the Calathian violet, Gentiana

Pneumonanthe.

drop

now

"Viola

called

alba:"

Honesty

that

large oval silvery shields,

Lobel

describes

beautiful

for parlour decoration, as Viola

terbury-bell

1542, figures the snow-

Fuchsius, in

much

the

crucifer

valued,

plant

with the

when

dry,

Lunaria major; the Can-

was then Viola Mariana, the sweet-williams, This wide diversity of application was

Viola barbata.

by inheritance from the Romans, with whom viola was very seldom special; and more remotely, by inheritance from the ancient Greeks, whose

to*/,

though

may have

included the Shaksperean flower, most certainly meant many things besides, though the idea of purple seems to

have been paramount, as when

little

Evadne, in Pindar,

The

Violet.

is said to be "ion-haired,"* having tresses, that is, of an Is it nothing, then, to be glad impurpled raven-black. of that the wanderer of nearly three thousand years at

should find a resting-place, and this the gift of Shakspere? What he would have done with the other last

had they called for mention, does not signify. Enough is it that he has fastened the name to the best of

"violets,"

all.

Shakspere, in so doing, further rendered the violet

truly his

When

own.

language be as quick to thank

will

who gave anchorage to names, as it is to honour the inventors of new arts and implements? Thus to commemorate Galvani, and Vernier, and Daguerre is the poets,

right and proper. Objects of natural beauty over which genius has cast her spell, are quite as worthy of appellations that shall remind us, whenever used, of the

most

great

and wise of past ages the men who taught us how and how to appreciate their loveliness and

to see them,

The day may

significance.

"the

common

when people violet,"

daisy" shall

yet arrive

when

instead of

be "Chaucer's daisy," and gratefully, not "the common

will

say,

but " Shakspere' s," perchance even "Perdita's."

Shakspere was no stranger to the ancient celebrity of the name. The most charming of all the allusions to the flower he loved so well it

with classical fable

that

O For the flowers now, that

From

Dis's

one

which he connects

wagon

Proserpina, frighted, thou let'st fall

Olympic,

vi.,

30.

The Shakspere Flora.

Violets dim,

But sweeter than the

What

the

relates

it,

lids

Cytherea's breath

of Juno's eyes,

myth intended, we do not know. says they were violets and lilies Quo dum

Ovid,

Proserpina luco

Ludit, et aut violas, aut Candida

lilia

carpit.

Met.,

Neither did Shakspere know. that

who

To him

391-2.

v.,

was enough

gave him a chance to dart at once into our

souls,

embedding old England's choicest wild-flower in the most romantic of primaeval fairy tales. Shakspere never mere sake of

imitates or copies for the

of the most

delightful

his

One

imitation.

characteristics

that,

without being a scholar, certainly without being up to the highest level of the scholarly age in which he lived,

still

knew enough of

classical verse

and

enriched and stimulated by or borrows,

either term

and splendour of

the power

classical story to it.

have

When

his

own

fancy

Shakspere copies

can be justly applied to the use

he makes of his predecessors, he repays a hundredfold in the

method

of the use.

Reading

in ancient dress the

wild old poetic fable to which he adverts, he takes just so much of it as will allow of rejuvenescence in the

brimming founts of

his

own

not Ovid's flowers, for those to fancy:

may be

Perdita's are

anything

hers are old England's violet,

and nothing

These it is which Shakspere gives us; illustraonce again that other grand quality of the work of

besides.

ting

imagination.

The the master whereby

feel

do not so much hear about

Violet.

when

in his presence that

things, or read about them,

as possess them.

Whether Shakspere was master enough of Latin to go and other tales it must be admitted

to the original for this is

an open question. In any case he would find the story one of the many reprints of Arthur Golding's transla-

tion of the Metamorphoses, originally published in 1567.

Ovid, very naturally, was one of the earliest of the old classical authors to receive

translation, several

besides

Golding trying their hands. But what does it matter, even could it be demonstrated that he was wholly That which ignorant of any language except his own ? is

precious in Shakspere,

importance to

honey of

his

us, is the

own

and of incomparably greater

outcome of

his

own

genius, the

teachings.

one cannot but think, is the Shaksperean is no debt, in regard to that

Similar,

indebtedness, which yet

most sweet and tender passage

in the Fasti,

where the

poet enjoins us to pay kindly respect to the tombs of the

departed by strewing flowers upon them.

says,

"but humble

offerings.

To them

"They is

ask,"

affection

more pleasing than a costly gift. Enough for them are and plucked violets" (ii., 539). For chaplets .

almost like an echo of these lovely words are the lines in Pericles,

mourning

where Marina enters with her basketful of

tribute

No, no,

I will

rob Tellus of her weeds,

strew thy grave with flowers

the yellows, blues,

The Shakspere Flora.

78 The

purple violets, and marigolds,

Shall, as a chaplet,

hang above thy grave While summer days do last. (iv., I.)

The resemblance

to the

While summer

immortal passage in Cymbeline

lasts,

and

I live here, Fidele,

sweeten thy sad grave,

I'll

may be accepted may be of

there

included in the

a proof

that,

Shakspere's

however

Pericles

else

little

a play not

folio Shakspere is at all events In case the violets are again English present any violets because ones, definitely, Shaksperean. An emendation seems to be needed in the line, first

here.

Shall, as a chaplet,

hang above thy grave,

kind so called to-day, were

for although chaplets of the

undoubtedly used in Shakspere's time, in funeral ceremonies, as illustrated in Hamlet, Yet here she

Her maiden strewments, and Of bell and burial, the

sense

that

which

expressed by "carpet." the

word

originally

v., 2,

allowed her virgin crants, the bringing

elsewhere

"Carpet," in

written.

home

Shakspere

all likelihood,

Carpets, in the

was

modern

sense of the word had not, in the Shaksperean times,

come

into use.

Their place was held by rushes; and name of a richly embroidered

"carpet" was then the

in the Taming of the Shrew, iv., i supper ready, the house trimmed, rushes strewed ? the carpets laid, and everything in order?"

table-cloth, as

" Is

...

beautiful

carpet"

this

character,

and not a

The

Violet.

what Marina proposes to place upon the which is inlaid by her with the grave, the green grass of view taken of the passage by Mr. the is This flowers. is

"chaplet,"

Chas. Knight.* also approves

it,

Dr. Schmidt, in the Shakspere lexicon, placing the passage alphabetically, not

under "chaplet," but under "carpet." That Dionyza, a minute afterwards, says to Marina, "Give me your wreath of flowers," in no degree sustains the "chaplet" hypo-

The wreath would be

thesis.

as the sole

and exclusive

"strewments."

the

brought, as in Hamlet, not

offering,

The

but as supplementing practice in the

established

Shaksperean times was plainly to scatter flowers, as from a basket, as illustrated in

King Henry

the Eighth,

When I am dead, good wench, be used with honour ; strew me o'er With maiden flowers, that all the world may know, I was a chaste wife to my grave. (iv., 2.) Let

Again

in Cymbelme,

Sweet

iv., 2,

and again

flower, with flowers

Romeo and Juliet;

strew thy bridal bed, Sweet tomb, that in thy circuit dost contain The perfect model of eternity. (v., 3.) I

So the old copies. The modern reading is chaplet. "Carpet. it is evident that the poet was thinking of the green mound that marks the last resting-place of the humble, and not of the sculptured But

tomb will said.

be adorned with wreaths.

hang a

The

Upon

the grassy grave Marina

she will strew flowers, she has before carpet of flowers carpet of Shakspere's time was a piece of tapestry,

or embroidery, spread upon tables ; and the real flowers with which Marina will cover the grave of her friend might have been, in her imagination, so intertwined as to resemble a carpet, usually bright with flowers of the needle."

The Shakspere Flora.

"He that

came," says the little page, giving an account of happened that mournful night,

He came "

all

with flowers to strew his lady's grave.

word found nowhere else in English literaa varied spelling of the German and Danish That it should occur in the same "cranz," a garland. Grants," a

ture,

play as hebenon,

a curious coincidence.

at least

Similar yet again, one cannot but think, classical verse

when Laertes Lay her

And May

from her

says in

minist'ring angel shall

thou

liest

flesh

I tell thee, churlish priest,

violets spring.

When

howling.

sister be,

(v., I.)

For Persius, speaking of a deceased poet, Nunc non

the echo o f

in the earth,

and unpolluted

fair

Hamlet,

says:

cinis ille poetse

levior cippus nunc imprimit ossa ? Laudunt convivse nunc non e manibus illis, Nunc non e tumulo fortunataque favilla

Felix

non

Nascentur

must be

violse ?

(i.

36-40. )

careful, at all times,

never to over-estimate

of nature, of Shakspere's particular knowledge, whether we must be quite as careful also science, or of books

never to confound simple coincidences with adaptations. Persius may have been read by Shakspere; many editions of the famous satirist

had already been published;

the volume, in an age so literary as the Elizabethan, was

unquestionably within his reach; Ben Jonson distinctly in the Poetaster; it is quite quotes from the prologue

The

Violet.

possible, therefore, that the

Hamlet imagery may have

been suggested by the Roman: note, however, how much we gain once more through Shakspere having

made

Persius employed viola in

the appellation specific.

the same broad, collective, indefinite sense which

Ovid, as proved by a later passage

holds

182).

(v.,

Shakspere we have the violet ipsissima, and the lines before us, by

introduction, acquire all the freshness

its

and the fragrance

The inmost

of the morning.

sense

pure and chaste,

though

inextinguishable.

The

offspring,

words

Laertes' it

may be

violet

introduced

that

the

veiled awhile, as

their

because the emblem, in the middle ages, and

probably ever since the time of the Troubadours and the Crusaders, of faithfulness, constancy, loyalty, everything

summed up

in that beautiful old Violet

Greek word

evcrradeta

for faith fulnesse,

Which in me shall abide ; Hoping likewise that from your heart You will not let it slide,

And

will continue in the

same,

As you have nowe begunne

And

;

then for ever to abide,

Then you my

heart have wonne.*

A Handefull of Pleasant Delites, 1584. One of the popular song books of the first half of the reign of Elizabeth, originally published in 1566. stituting

The

of loue, at Newyeres shall

with

present stanza

tide,

the seventh of fifteen con-

or for fairings, as they in their minds

be disposed to write." it.

Nosegaie alwaies sweet, for Louers to send for Tokens

Shakspere was certainly ^acquainted

The Shakspere Flora.

Ophelia herself has adverted to it in that intensely mournful utterance, while distributing her flowers among

company around

the

but they withered

"I would give you some

violets,

when my father died" (iv., function, as we all know, is not all

The poet's highest much to describe nature

as to insoul

How

it.

5).

supremely

beautiful in the present instance the imparting to the

the

wild-flower

little

emotions;

and saddest of human

deepest

perishes overwhelmed by grief

But we have not yet done with Perdita. "sweeter than the

Why

and yet

again, than "Cytherea's breath?"

the acknowledged

"windows of the

"violets

of Juno's eyes?"

dim?"

lids

and dismay.

Why The

soul."

eyes are

Shakspere

transfers the name, by permitted metonymy, to the lids, a favourite usage with him, for we have it in Romeo and

Juliet: roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade paly ashes ; thine eyes' windows fall Like death, when he shuts up the day of life.

The

(iv., I.)

In Venus and Adonis:

Her two

And

blue windows faintly she upheaveth.

again in Cymbeline,

ii.

these windows, white

Under With blue in

which

when

last

the skin

* Often

of heaven's

own

exquisite picture is

wrongly

are reminded that

exceptionally white and translucent, the punctuated,

Azure, instead of being followed

compound

and azure-laced

tinct,*

azure-laced.

"white and azure, laced," etc. by a comma, is part of the obvious

The veins

show

larger

Violet.

a delicate

and rounder

the

The

blue net-work.

faint

the

eye,

beautiful,

Eyes and eyelids of exactly description were possessed by the most celebrated

necessity, the azure lace. this

woman

own

of Shakspere's

not of royal birth

period

Elizabeth Hardwicke, Countess of Shrewsbury, the

irre-

sistible though unloveable lady whose fourth husband was custodian, during many years, of the ill-fated Mary

"Elizabeth Hardwicke," says her biographer,* "had one of those delicate complexions through the transparency of which the violet veins gleam

beneath the skin in

tender waving threads, giving a peculiarly beautiful the forehead

and

eyelids."

Mark

the

word

tint to

"tint,"

Shak-

Network produced by some deeper hue, absolute network, is reserved for the henbane and the spere's own.

pencilled geranium.

This he does not mean.

occurs in the violet,

which

the

never

white variety, so

elegantly pointed to in the epithet "dim,"f

is,

neverthe-

Whatever the prevailing the streaks which spring from the

less often suffused with blue.

colour of the petals, centre

show

plainly, as referred to particularly in

Venus

and Adonis: These blue-veined violets whereon we lean, Never can blab, nor know not what we mean.

Elizabeth

not

Hardwicke's countenance was very possibly to him, and before his mind. In any case

unknown

*Miss Costello, Memoirs of Eminent Englishwomen, Is it possible that Shakspere here gives new

"pallentes violas" of Virgil, Eel.

ii.,

47?

vol.

i.,

life

p. 10.

to the

The Shakspere Flora.

he knew that Juno, queen of heaven, was not only majestic in figure and stature, but distinguished for the beauty and the prominence of her great eyes, the lids of which must have been ample indeed. Homer calls her /3ow7rie, "ox-eyed," an epithet not altogether pretty perhaps, in prosaic view; varied into the

name

enviable, nevertheless,

modern "ox-eye

the ancient Buphthalmum, the

"Well," says Leigh Hunt, "does goddess, since she

may be

Her

with a royal indifference

daisy."

suit the eyes of that

supposed, with

want a certain humanity.

and

of a celebrated radiant flower

all

her beauty,

large eyes look at

you

Shakspere has kissed them,

and made them human, shutting up their pride."* Every man knows of a voice that is sweeter than

all

melody; he knows, too, where to find fragrance sweeter than flowers can yield The forward violet thus did I chide music; yea, of a

footfall that is

Sweet

thief,

If not

from

whence did thou

steal

love's breath ?

thy sweet that smells,

Sonnet, xcix.

in Cymbeline:

The

leaf of eglantine,

whom

not to slander,

Out-sweetened not thy breath.

What

the lover finds in his betrothed, the ancients

thought of their goddesses:

Non Beroe

non

hsec Rhoete'ia, matres, divina signa decoris, Ardentesque notate oculos qui spiritus illi, Qui vultus, vocisve sonus, vel gressus eunti vobis,

Est Dorycli conjux

sEneid, *

Men, Women, and Books,

149.

v., 646.

The

Violet.

spoken of here, but the same attributes were given many times in the ^Eneid called Cytherea,

Iris is

to Venus,

since it was near the island of Cythera, adjacent to the Peloponnesus, that, according to the ancient fable, she on two other occasions so rose out of the smiling sea; called also

And

by Shakspere,

Cytherea,

Which seem

all in

sedges hid,

move and wanton with her

breath,

Taming of the Shrew,

How bravely

Cytherea ! thou becom'st thy bed, fresh

lily

Induction.

Cymbeline,

ii.,

"Cytherea's breath" we are thus to understand the imaginable of odours, surpassed in sweetness,

choicest

nevertheless,

by the breath of old England's

little

wild-

flower.

Allusions to the perfume of the violet occur in several

admired passages

Therefore, to be possessed with double To guard* a title that was rich before,

"To

met with

guard," used in a sense

now

pomp,

obsolete, though

many

times

the sense being first to protect the edge of anything, as the garrison does the castle-wall ; then, as defence is always ornamental, to adorn the edges of articles of dress with lace in Shakspere,

or other decorative material; then, metaphorically, to glorify a man's reputation, character, or "title." Thus, in the Merchant of Venice,

ii.,

Give him a livery More guarded than his fellows.

King Henry

VIII., Prologue:

The Shakspere Flora.

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet; To smooth the ice, or add another hue Unto the rainbow, or with

taper-light

seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,

Is wasteful,

That

and

ridiculous excess.

strain again

King John,

iv., 2.

had a dying fall ;

O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour.

The sweet

very generally accepted, still

in dispute.

the words

Twelfth Night,

i.,

south, in the Twelfth

are

Night verses, though one of the doubtful phrases

the early editions of Shakspere

all

printed

"like the sweet sound,"

the

emendation having been made by Pope. Those who contend that in the manuscript it must have been "sound," point to other passages in which Shakspere represents

"sweet."

the

south

As You

wind Like

the

//, for

very

contrary of

instance

You

foolish shepherd, wherefore do you follow her, Like foggy south, puffing with wind and rain ? (iii.,

It is further

contended that

5.)

really wrote "south,"

would not be as signifying the south wind, but in the sense of " sough," used provincially to denote the " soft it

susurrus of the breeze."

thought to

Pope's proposed correction is be sustained by a passage in the Arcadia of

A fellow In a long motley coat, guarded with yellow.

When

in Much Ado, i., 2, Benedick says to the Prince of Arragon, " The body of your discourse is sometimes guarded with fragments," he means that the royal conversation is sometimes frivolous.

The

Violet.

"Her contemporary, Sir Philip Sidney: wind a south-west than breath more sweet gentle which comes sweeping over flowery fields and shadowed Shakspere's is

Perhaps Shakspere may have had in his mind

waters."

Song of Solomon

that beautiful verse in the

Come,

thou south wind; blow upon my garden, that the odours thereof may flow out" (iv., 16). "South," rather than " sound

acceptable also from

into agreeable

its

bringing the passage

harmony with another in Cymbeline, quite

as familiar:

O Thou

thou goddess, thyself thou blazon'st

how

divine Nature,

In these two princely boys They are as gentle As zephyrs, blowing beneath the violet, Not wagging his sweet head and yet as rough, !

;

Their royal blood unchaf d, as the rudest wind That by the top doth take the mountain pine,

And make him

stoop to the vale.

In two places the violet

(iv., 2.)

employed metaphorically

Who are the violets now, Welcome, my son That strew the green lap of the new-come spring ? Richard the Second,

"Who

are the courtiers, that

broke,

now

other instance

is,

the spring-time is

in that

pathos and delicacy of

who

attend on Boling-

of his reign?"

The

profoundly moving scene, in

unsurpassed anywhere in where dove-like Shakspere, poor Ophelia, most spirituelle of

all his

finish

conceptions of feminine grace, stainless as the

pearl of the

deep

sea,

fragile as the

capable herself only of innocence

blue flax blossom,

and

celestial trustful-

The Shakspere Flora*

88 ness,

and who never told her

warned by her

love,

brother not to believe too confidently

For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour, Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood ;

A violet in the youth of

primy nature,

Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute

No more No more !

OPHELIA LAERTES Still

she

Think

unconvinced

has once gone over, scarcely

POLONIUS OPHELIA

woman's

;

Ay, fashion you may call it. hath given countenance

Sonnet

with love

;

to.

to his speech,

lord,

the holy vows of heaven. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks.

The end we it

where the heart

My lord, he hath importun'd In honourable fashion.

With almost

POLONIUS

faith,

impregnable; her father himself

And

makes deeper impression

OPHELIA

towards

but so

no more

all

There

know.

at present. xii.

all

Compare,

no need

go further

rather, the tender lines

When

I behold the violet past prime, sable curls all silver'd o'er with white,

And Then

of thy beauty do I question make, That thou among the wastes of time must go, Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake,

And

die as fast as they see others grow.

"Prime" and "primy,"

in the

above passages,

signify

of or belonging to the Spring, as again in Sonnet xcvi.

The

Violet.

The teeming autumn,

big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burden of the prime.

" Forward," in turn, means early," as in Sonnet

xcix.,

"Favour" means appearance or com-

above quoted.

plexion, thence the

countenance,

many

other

places.

My life Hath

young though thou upon some favour that

upon't,

stay'd

art, it

thine eye

loves.

Twelfth Night,

As You

ii.,

Like It:

The boy

is fair,

female favour, and bestows himself Like a ripe sister. (iv., 3.)

And

in Pericles '

Ah, how your

The remaining

favour's

changed

allusions to the violet,

(iv.

I.)

making the

total

Midsummer Night's Dream, song, "I know a bank," upon

of eighteen, occur in the ii.,

in Oberon's little

which, in

its

season,

The nodding in Cymbeline,

grows ;

i.,

The

violet

violets, cowslips,

Bear

closet

and the primroses,

;

King Henry the Fifth, iv., i, "I think the king is but as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to in Measure for Measure, ii., 2, me;" in

man

It is I,

That lying by the

violet, in the sun,

as the carrion does, not as the flower,

Corrupt with virtuous season ;

The Shakspere Flora. in Lovers Labour's Lost, v., 2,

When daisies pied, and violets blue, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, And Lady-smocks, all silver-white, Do paint the meadows with delight, where, as violets, definitely so called, never grow in the

open "meadows," we are

to understand,

by the

latter

word, in regard to these flowers, the country in general; and, on a second occasion, in Venus

Who, when he

lived, his breath

and Adonis,

and beauty

Gloss on the rose, smell to the violet.

set

^istlj.

THE PANSY. My

crown

heart, not

head ;

Nor decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen: my crown is called Content. grd Heiiry

pansy, Viola tricolor,

is,

the Sixth,

iii.,

like the violet,

a genuine English wild-flower, coming up abundantly in dry waste places,

April it

till

especially

where

ploughed,

and

October.

was one of the

where

the

form

first

and

All the early botanists

known

plant,

the

blooming There can be no

been

freely

from

doubt

that

be brought into the garden, colours would soon improve.

make mention

some giving rude woodcut

as Matthiolus,

has

soil

in the very curious

printed at Florence in 1586, in

as a well-

representations,

Epitome de Plantis, which volume it is called

The Shakspere Flora.

that the

French name

"pensee," whence, very obviously, the

Shaksperean

The author adds

Flos Trinitatis. is

when

one, though there

first

no evidence

employed in our own country show. That continental names

should accompany flowers brought as exotics across the

Channel, as in the case of the sweet-william, originally " " william is a oeillet (of which latter word

the sweet

corruption),

would be next that

however,

curious,

to a matter of course.

indigenous

It is

named

flower,

already by the Anglo-Saxons, should receive, as in the present instance, a

new one

by a name so poetical

Why

of foreign birth.

unknown, the

likewise

called

tradition

come down, though it may reasonably be supposed to have been extant in the Elizabethan age. not having

The

derivation, as of so

many

other picturesque names,

belongs to that beautiful department, not of our powers, but of our inability, which is concerned with the best

and most precious knowledge. To find reasons for the prosaic feelings and actions of life, to understand low and vulgar

things,

other hand,

why

make no mute

;

easy enough

difference to an inmost

knows only

that

sunshine, and, like mercy, It blesseth

Just

him

ask the heart, on the

why a dozen

loves,

years of absence

faithfulness

a kind of

" twice blessed,"

that gives,

and him

that takes.

so with the richest part of language

romance

and

affection,

;

there

which the dictionary gives no index. That some sweet and pretty superstition or fabled in

The Pansy.

attribute lies within the old French name, derived, it would seem, etymologically, from pensare, to weigh (in " the mind), whence also pensive," we may be sure, in truth,

from the use made of

Hamlet;

for Shakspere,

though fond of a verbal conceit, would never place one

The passage lips of poor distracted Ophelia. The again counts with the most touching in his works. upon the

king, the queen, Laertes,

and various nobles are

in con-

suddenly she enters,

dressed fantastically with straws and flowers," present in all her loveliness of versation

;

form and feature, but her mind LAERTES

Tears seven times up my brain Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight, :

heat, dry

salt,

Till our scale turn the weight.

Dear maid, kind

O heavens

is't

rose of

fine in love,

and while

'tis

It sends some precious instance of After the thing it loves.

away, for

life ?

fine,

itself

she utters she knows not what; then

Ophelia sings;

looking round, with distributes her

Should be as mortal as an old man's Nature

May

sweet Ophelia possible, a young maid's wits sister,

little gifts.

whom

gleam of returning

Her

soul

intellect,

with Hamlet, far

she possibly mistakes Laertes, and she " There's rosemary, that's

begins with talking to him.

remembrance; pray you, love, remember." Rosemary was one of the plants always carried at weddings the dream of her own bridal is uppermost, but how exquisite

for

;

the reference without mention

comes the

soft,

of the word

sweet feminine adjuration

Then

look at her

The Shakspere Flora.

94 eyes there

pray you, love, remember;" followed by "and

that's

pansies,

Here one

for

"Thoughts?"

thoughts."

constrained to

wondering

pause,

the

pleasant fable can be pointed to in any other of the half-

dozen old-fashioned appellations alive still in country " kiss me," most of which seem to refer,

places, such as

emblematic character, to the idea of

like the violet, in its

fond attachment, the very root and pivot of which is pensez a moi. Probably in the middle ages the pansy

and the affinity,

There

violet,

flowers

would be

no evidence

and we have simply expression, "Nature

Well,

v., 3,

stands.

\sfine in love," rests

the

word,

great

"nicety,"

the king says to Parolles,

upon

meaning

artifice.

usage subtilty

In All's

"But thou

art too

In Bacon's

used in the complimentary sense

"Your Majesty was too

The pansy

Laertes'

the curious

colloquial

fine in thy evidence; therefore stand aside."

Apophthegms,

botanical

as to the origin of the association,

familiar in the derivative finesse,

of contrivance,

near

extremely

confounded or interchanged.

to accept

lateral signification of

at times

fine for

my Lord

Burghley."

mentioned many times by the writers of the Shaksperean age, but scarcely two of them agree as is

to the shape of the word. chivalry, calls

pawnee."

it,

in the

Spenser, the last minstrel of " Shepherds Calendar, the pretie

Ben Jonson has I pray,

The O,

what flowers are these ?

panzie this

;

that's for lovers' thoughts.

The Pansy.

In William Webbe's Discourse of English Poetric, 1586, second eclogue,

in the course of his translation of Virgil's

we have " pancyes." Still another form occurs in Lyte. " The pances or hartes ease,"* he tells us, is also called "

love in idleness."

These various

spellings of

Elizabethan age, show laid

upon any

how

little

stress

spelling of the period.

orthography did not then

much

a name so familiar in the

as they liked,

ever to be

standard of

Authors spelt very

exist.

and frequently by mere

guess.

Con-

formity was scarcely attainable even by the learned,

when a manuscript was placed compositors, petent,

if it

and

hands of the

the

did not find them ignorant and incom-

was sure of

their carelessness.

The men who

set the types of the early editions of the

Shaksperean plays were not only negligent themselves to a degree which in modern times is astounding, but had no "reader" to set

them

right before the printing

would not different

" regards

difficult

spellings often in

find

a single play.

pansy," the consideration

It acquires great weight,

raised as to reprinting.

was commenced. examples

several far

of no importance.

however, when the question

what spelling should we employ to-day when For philological purposes, the old is doubt-

The name of "heartsease," it may be remarked (not occurring Shakspere), pertained originally to the wallflower, as may be seen in Turner, ii., 163, and became transferred as an alias to the

pansy through an odd misunderstanding, explained Dr. Prior.

at length

The Shakspere Flora.

very serviceable; but people in general go to Shakspere for his poetry, his art, his pathos, his infinite

less

inexhaustible

his

humour,

and these they

humanity,

gather best from the spelling they are used it

may be added, places the pansy

to.

Virgil

Webbe, without

No distinct allusion to it occurs

authority in the original.

in the classical poets, the flower

mentioned

in the sixth

by some to be the Viola tricolor, Olympian, more as shown by the context, the far probably, being 55, thought

yellow water-flag, Iris Pseud-acorus, the petals of which, Pansies would as the author says, are purple-streaked.

never so mix with waterside reeds as to supply a place of The " luteae violae " concealment for a little child. of Catullus,

show of

xix., 12,

cannot be adduced with any greater

reason.

two occasions out of the three on which Shakspere pansy he calls it by the other old name, just

refers to the

" love-in-idleness," one which points quoted from Lyte, anew to some unrecorded myth or superstition. The

name to

considered by the etymologists to be an elonga-

tion of

love-in-idle," loving, that

no purpose,

in vain, these having

senses of the term, as in

King Lear,

to say, fruitlessly,

been the primitive

iv.,

Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow In our sustaining corn,

and very

distinctly,

Scripture. mirthful,

many

prefers

times, in the early versions of

now because

when Lucentio

the occasion

says, in the

Shrew, thinking about Bianca

Taming of the

The Pansy. But I

What

that

see,

while idly I looked on, effect of love-in-idleness.

found the

was

effect

the

told

(i.,

I.)

Midsummer

Night's Dream, almost the whole of the entertaining

circumstances of which intensely poetical drama, unique of

its

kind, are brought about by the magical virtues of

But do not

the juice.

let

us go too

fast.

First there is

the beautiful allegory which, leading up so gently to the

and before we have any idea of what is to an interest almost royal. Oberon, king of come, gives the fairies, calls to his private and confidential page little

flower,

gentle Puck,

Since once

come

hither

Thou remember'st

upon a promontory, And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back, Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, That the rude sea grew civil at her song, I sat

And certain stars shot madly from To hear the sea-maid's music ?

PUCK I remember. OBERON That very

their spheres

time I saw (but thou could'st not),

Flying between the cold moon and the earth, Cupid all arm'd a certain aim he took :

At a

fair vestal,

And

loos'd his love-shaft smartly

But

throned by the west, from his bow, should pierce a hundred thousand hearts :

might see young Cupid's fiery shaft Quench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon, I

And

the imperial votaress passed on, In maiden meditation, fancy free.

far the

knows, to

charming introduction, designed, as every one

fix the thoughts upon Queen Elizabeth, the maiden monarch, whose love of elegant compliment, yea,

The Shakspere Flora.

98 even of full

not to say adulation, Shakspere

flattery,

knew

yet, if history

no opporbe true, was

For we are not

to interpret

well; and, skilful courtier as he was, lost

tunity of gratifying;

not at

all

" " phrase by the meaning of fancy current

this beautiful

some

to-day

and who

times "fancy free."

conception of

sportive

always reasonable,

the

often whimsical,

mind,

not

and often con-

In the Shaksperean age nected with something ignoble. with was "love," and perhaps "fancy" synonymous not unadvisedly, since the preferences felt by men and women for one another admit of no explanation, and

belong purely to the realm of Taste. example, in

iv., i,

Compare,

for

of the same play,

Fair Helena, infancy following me.

So, in

As You

love-suit

upon

If,

iii.,

where

Sweet Phoebe, do not scorn

Say

Silvius presses his

the unwilling shepherdess

that

you love

;

not,

Phoebe

not, but say not so

In bitterness.

dear Phoebe,

If ever (as that ever

You meet

some

may be

near),

fresh cheek the

you know the wounds That love's keen arrows make.

Then

Little,

shall

power of

fancy,

invisible

he means, as you may to-day conceive of the when it comes to your

force of love, you will learn all

own

turn to be smitten by a countenance that

and sunshine.

Juliet's attention is first attracted

song

towards

The Pansy. Romeo by

him " fancy

seeing

sick

99 and pale of cheer

a cold beauty. In the Midsummer Night's Dream Hermione calls wishes and tears "poor fancy's In As You Like //, again, reflecting idly followers."

for love of

upon

love, is

Chewing Lastly, to cite

Cressida,

v.,

the food of sweet and bitter fancy.

(iv., 3.)

no more of twenty instances, in Troilus and the word is used as a verb

Never did young man fancy With so eternal and so fixed a soul.

The

introduction concluded, then comes, like a

glorious

wave of the

the picture even

fast-flowing tide

Yet marked

It fell

upon a

Fetch

beautiful

upon

new and

the beach,

where the bolt of Cupid

fell

western flower, Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound, And maidens call it "love-in-idleness:"

The

The herb I show'd thee once, on sleeping eyelids laid,

that flower.

juice of

Will make a

Upon

little

man

woman madly

the next live creature that

dote sees.

me this herb, and be thou here again, Ere the leviathan can swim a league. Fetch

PUCK I'll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes. (ii., 2.) :

The scene of

the play being laid in Athens and a

neighbouring wood, it is allowable to regard the latter as Oberon's home. We breathe, in truth, while reading it, the atmosphere of Arcadia, sweetened by the mild waft, never ceasing, from the blue ygean; for Shakspere's

The Shakspere Flora.

TOO "

fairies

are

no other than the wood-nymphs of

The

fable, the old, old story in varied recital.

in truth, beloved of the innocent fancy, are the

Athenian, hence, in turn, little

come

fairies,"

same

all

The

the world over, and in every age.

the

classic

scene being the beauty and grace of

epithet "western," which, taken in connection

with the reference to Elizabeth, at once transports the

mind

poet

Old England.

by delicate touches such as these

It is is

Like the true

declared.

that the great

artist, in his details

always a mathematician, as strong in the simplest

particulars as in the weightiest;

the most trivial not

ing as

all

and the word

uncommonly

carries as

the others put together.

that

seems

much mean-

Shakspere,

has

been well shallows, but goes not into the depths, speaking down only to our knowTo to our Greece the little pansy of spirits. ledge, but said, never plays in the

England so,

emphatically a "western" flower.

are refreshed, in the

Saying

most charming manner, by a

reminder of Home.

How

elegant, too, the added fiction of the change of an ancient fable newly told. When in company with Titania, and in fairyland, we must not insist

colour,

upon a too

literal

exactitude as to

the wild forms of the

That one of

facts.

Viola tricolor, called

by botanists

the Viola arvensis, has flowers white in every part except-

ing the golden recess in the middle, streaked with purple, is

quite true

;

true also that the petals are capable

of becoming purple under cultivation.

Shakspere does

The Pansy. not refer to

this.

101 the pansy what in

transfers to

Ovid he had read about the mulberry, white to the

snow up

moment when "in such a night" Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew, And saw the lion's shadow ere himself,

And

ran, dismayed,

away,

but presently, and ever afterwards, the colour of the blood-stained

The

veil.

efficiency of the juice,

relief,

nevertheless,

need

The

proved, and in twofold case.

fun

''another herb," an antidote that will "take* the

from

off her sight,"

wilfulness, is not to

and

be punished

as thou wast

wont

indefinitely to

definite

I.)

(iv.

have no

Shakspere anything of

In a case like the present, when

he must have had some it is

it is

plain that

image before

his 'mind

quite permissible, nevertheless, to conjecture.

allusion

may be

charm

;

intended does not appear.

right, as said before, to assign to

our own.

it is

be ;

Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flower Hath such force and blessed power.

plant

;

that Titania, with all her married

See as thou wast wont to see

What

amply

Oberon knows of

that

find

said, is

supreme

The

wormwood, the famous Artemisia of

the olden time, of which the

name

Dian's herb

would

be as nearly as possible a translation.. Not impossibly he was thinking of the Agnus castus, famous in the middle ages as "a singular medicine

for

such as would

The Shakspere Flora.

IO2 live

chaste,"

thus fittingly dedicated

the crescent-

crested goddess of the virgins,

Queen and huntress chaste and

Ben

pretty

Jonson's beautiful

little

some

shrub,

fair,

The Agnus

hymn.

five or six feet high,

castus

indigenous

and Asia Minor, where it grows upon of the banks rivers, and whence it was first brought to

to Greece, Syria,

England

The

in 1570.

shoots are long and pliant; the

and

rather large leaves are opposite

narrow lanceolate.

The

digitate; the leaflets

small and white, or

flowers,

with a purplish tinge, grow in loose terminal

and are produced

clusters,

in September.

THE PRIMROSE. The

aboriginal British plant

our

own

extent.

said to

island than in any other part of

the Continent

Upon

chiefly

among

than either of the above-named lie

and the pansy a truly be more plentiful in

primrose, like the violet

less

Europe of equal widely diffused

the southern localities

;

the mountains, so that by those

who

travel towards the Mediterranean the pleasant sight of is

gradually

lost,

whence

also, very plainly, the infrequent

notice of this beautiful wild-flower by authors of earlier

date than the fifteenth century. original shape,

Even the name,

not by birthright

its

in the

very own, the

germ

being found in the old Italian appellation of the common field daisy, which in the time of Dante, Petrarch, and

The Primrose. Boccaccio, was fiore di prima vera,

Subsequently

early spring."

this

103 " the flower of the

name was passed on

the cowslip, which retained it, abreast of the daisy, till as late as the time of Matthiolus, in whose curious old

Epitome, pp. 653, 655, and 883, there are capital woodcut representations both of the daisy and the cowslip,

though the primrose

prima vera became, by

Fiore di

not even mentioned.

This,

contraction, primaverola.

moving northwards, was changed, by the French, into Then, passing into England, and to the primeverole. flower before us,

became

primerolle, as in Chaucer, in

the Miller's Tale, 82, and in Lydgate,

who began

to write

before the death of Chaucer, producing innumerable little pieces, many of which are fashioned after the

manner of

his great predecessor, but

who

again slightly

changed the spelling The

honysoucle, the froisshe prymerollys,

Ther

levys splaye at Phebus up-rysing.*

primerolles the transition to "primrose" was quite though there is no evidence as to when it took For a long time, moreover, the application of the place. name was indefinite, one of the plants originally called

From easy,

It was Shakspere primrose being the common privet. who, as in the case of the sweet violet, gave the name its final

anchorage.

exactly what

When

* In that charming Society's

he talks of the primrose

meant ; and never since little

poem,

"Early English Poetry,"

we know

his time has the

Lydgate's Testament."

vol.

ii.,

p. 242.

Percy

The Shakspere Flora.

IO4 name

its pure and simple form, any other than the cherished one. Can we be othersignification wise than grateful once again ?

borne, in

Including the line in Venus and Adonis, Witness

this

primrose-bank whereon

I lie;

including also the pretty reference in the

Nights Dream,

i.,

In the wood where often you and I faint primrose-beds were wont to

Upon mention of

made by Shakspere upon

The

Midsummer

lie,

eight distinct

which naturally most impressed him, being those upon which a poet would first alight, were its very early development, and the occasions.

peculiarly soft

from that verna,

and

characteristics

delicate

the

constant

which shines, from

Hence

hue of the

of the pilewort, or

petals, so different

lesser celandine," Ficaria

companion of the primrose, and first

last,

with golden lustre.*

the favourite Shaksperean epithet of "pale": I

would be blind with weeping, sick with groans,

Look

And

pale as primrose, with blood-drinking sighs, have the noble duke alive.

all to

2nd Henry

the Sixth,

iii.,

The pilewort, if we press for minute accuracy in the associamuch more emphatically the herald of spring than either the The former blooms more or less all the year daisy or the cowslip. tion, is

round, and the latter often in the autumn, whereas the pilewort never opens until that sweet season when the trees, though there are leaves

upon them, give no shade.

The Primrose. Again

in that

105

most lovely passage where Imogen (Fidele), by Arviragus to be dead

lying in a trance, is believed

With Whilst summer I'll

and

lasts,

sweeten thy sad grave.

The The The

fairest flowers,

I live here, Fidele,

Thou

shalt not lack

flower that's like thy face, pale primrose, nor azur'd harebell, like thy veins; no, nor leaf of eglantine,

whom

not to slander,

Outsweeten'd not thy breath.

And once

more,

in the

Cymbeline,

lines

supreme

iv., 2.

in the

Winter's

we know them

already which, though quoted a thousand times, are for ever new and fragrant. Perdita, receiving her father's guests at the rustic festival, bids

Tale

them welcome, looking first at the elders, and with courtesy so respectful and refined, so amiable withal, so and yet so maidenly, Shakspere could have depicted it

unhesitating,

that

none but

me those flowers there, Dorcas Reverend For you there's rosemary and rue these keep Seeming and savour all the winter long. Grace and remembrance be to you both, And welcome to our shearing Give

Sirs,

Then comes

the modest talk with Polixenes anent the

carnations: then, turning to Florizel, yearning for spring flowers, the incomparable outpour,

O For the flowers now

From

Dis's

wagon

Proserpina,

that frighted, thou lett'st fall

Daffodils,

That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty. Pale primroses,

That die unmarried, ere they can behold

The Shakspere Flora.

io6

Bright Phoebus in his strength, a malady

Most incident

maids; bold oxlips, and

The crown-imperial lilies of all kinds, The flower-de-luce being one O these I lack To make you garlands of; and my sweet friend, To strew him o'er and o'er. FLORIZEL. What! Like a corse? ;

PERDITA.

like a

No,

bank

for love to lie

and play

Perdita, child of fortune, has for her distinguishing that

most charming of

truthfulness.

confiding, faithful,

all

Full of all

and

womanly

heart incomparably never chequered by a can be mistaken; without any pretension

thought that it to power, void of

all

women

and easy

else

whoever

love for vehement outbursts, she

always, as truthful

insincere,

hers to be

Hence, without a pause, the

beautiful rejoinder, continuing

not to be buried, Not like a corse ; But quick, and in mine arms. Come, take your flowers. Methinks I play as I have seen them do or

In Whitsun pastorals

Doth change

may

well

sure this robe of mine

disposition.

make

his enraptured reply

What you

do,

what is done. When you speak, sweet, have you do it ever when you sing, have you buy and sell so so give alms

Still betters

I'd I'd

always are, natural, graceful,

may be

frank as the sunshine.

Florizel

sweet and tender emotions,

her zeal in friendship

;

trait,

virtues, love

own warm

her

the

on.

;

Pray so ; and, for the ordering your affairs, To sing them too. When you do dance, I wish you A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do

The Primrose. Nothing but that ; move

other function.

still, still

107

so,

and own

Each your doing,

So singular in each particular, Crowns what you are doing in the present deeds, That all your acts are queens. Perditais the most accomplished of Shakspere's

women.

her unassailable purity, her infinite sensibility, she adjoins aptitude for all sprightly feminine pastimes and recreations; though she

may not

she can sing, she can dance, she

play chess, like Miranda,

pious, alive to the inner

beauty of wild nature, rejoicing in the spectacle of the daffodils

and the swallows, and of boundless resource

regard to the mental acquirements that

Hence she

stands

full front

culture.

bespeak and model

as the very type

of perfect womanliness, which consists not alone in being loveable, but perennially companionable. Appearing

upon the scene so late, and remaining with us for so short a time, it is somewhat remarkable that her delicious character should be so perfectly delineated.

The

Had

primroses she wishes for die, she says, "unmarried."

the words been spoken to-day, the idea might have

seemed Linnsean. is

the sun.

Not

the flowers he

with Perdita.

wait his arrival; their wedding-day bright and warm

they

come

all

Phoebus

as a bridegroom. is

when

into their tinted cups

too soon; like maidens

his

They

beams

fall

the primroses,

who

die in their

teens, they just glance at him, then fade away.

Two

of the allusions are curiously metaphorical.

That

so pleasing a flower should be used as an image

personal

comeliness, as often happens in the literature

The Shakspere Flora.

io8

of the middle ages, it

in the Miller's

not surprising.

Chaucer thus uses

Tale above quoted; Spenser also in

Colin Clout:

nymph yet never saw mine eye, the pride and primrose of the rest.

fairer

She

Roger Ascham,

in 1570, applies

to well-favoured youths,

those "two noble primroses of nobilitie, the young duke of Suffolke and Lord

Henry Matravers."*

Dr. Prior

Thomas a pleasure make a

quotes from an old writer, in reference to Becket, that he "would

sumtyme

for his

journey of pylgrymage to the prymerose peerlesse of Who the lady was the historian does not Stafforde." say.

The

pretty phrase he thought her worthy of

became

the appellation of the wild English narcissus, the cissus biftorus of the botanists,

in country gardens.

which bears

Somewhat

is it,

singular

Nar-

to this

day

then, that

Shakspere, in his metaphorical use, employs the word not thus, but as a preacher might :

But good

brother,

some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whilst like a puff'd and reckless libertine not, as

Himself the primrose-path of dalliance recks not his own rede. Hamlet,

And

So again

treads, i.

in the porter's exclamation in Macbeth,

thought to

have

let in

some of the

"I had

professions that go

In each the primrose-way to everlasting fire" (ii. 3). instance the words are virtually a repetition of what is said

by the honest old clown *The

in All's

Well that Ends

Scholemaster, ed. 1571, p. 241.

The Primrose. Well,

iv., 5

which

house with the narrow gate,

for the

be too

109

pomp to enter. Some, humble themselves, may; but the many will be too chill and tender; and they'll be for the flowery way, that I take to

little for

that

and the great fire." "Recks not Hamlet verse, means, it hardly

leads to the broad gate his

own

rede," in the

needs the pointing out, "does not abide by or act up to

own doctrine." The three passages, taken

his

may be accepted own private and essence of of the No man views Christianity. personal ever stood up more energetically than he, for the sum and substance of scripture teaching, which is that men together,

as a faithful disclosure of Shakspere's

are saved, or the reverse, not according to what they

what they do,

think, but according to

follow them."

what

Shakspere,

in these days

was a soundly

would be called

religious

man.

at times with indelicacy

stands in very painful chaste nobleness,

"Their works do

though we have no

That

clue to

his ".denomination,"

in his prose

we meet

and grossness of speech that contrast with his accustomed

unhappily quite true; but

this,

said before, belongs to the colloquial coarseness of the

In Shakspere age in which he lived, and not to himself. there is never any deliberate and flippant irreverence; there

none of the

artfully disguised profanity,

none of

suggestion, and sapping of good morals, the modern novel is often so harmful. A man

the vicious

which in

cannot be void of religion when his writings teem with thoughtful and affectionate reverence of Christian well-

The Shakspere Flora.

doing and of womanly worth, and who never fails in gentle enforcement of the divine beauty of peace and mercy, justice and an upright life. Very interesting is it

observe, also,

how very

slight

the

reflex

Dante Shakspere of any particular theological system. is full of the deep colouring of the theology of the age in

which he lived; and among Shakspere's successors,

not one

more conspicuous

author of Paradise Lost.

respect than the

in this

In the main, both Dante and

Milton were no doubt in advance of and superior to the current theology of their time, but neither of

them was

wholly free from the influence of doctrines which in the grasp they took of inferior minds often became terrible,

but which in Shakspere find

Shakspere's large perception of the Christianity

disclosed,

little first

expression.

principles of

we may here remember,

in a

very striking manner, in the history of the experience of Macbeth "If human nature," it has been well observed, " even in its worst had to with hours,

itself,

merely

struggle

the problem of responsibility would be far easier

of solution."

Shakspere, in Macbeth, illustrates the more

unseen element in human temptation, under the The place they hold in figure of the three witches. fearful

the

drama

not given them for simple theatrical

It is needful to the consistency of the life

the principal actor.

effect.

and crime of

Shakspere's intimate acquaintance

with Holy Scripture has

many

Dr.

Wordsworth (Bishop of

the

simple truth:

"Take

St.

times

been

illustrated.

Andrews) pronounces

the entire range of

English

The Cowslip. literature; put together our best authors

1 1 1

who have written

upon subjects not professedly religious or theological, and we shall not find, I believe, in them all united, so

much evidence of the Bible having been read and used we have found in Shakspere alone." The one remaining allusion to the flower under notice is the other in Cymbeline, where the Queen, who has previously commanded as

While the dew's on the ground, gather those flowers ; Make haste, who has the note of them ?

now

says

So, so, well done, well done

The

violets, cowslips,

Bear to

and the primroses

closet.

THE COWSLIP. The cowslip, diffused in England quite as widely as the primrose, though usually preferring to dwell in the open meadows, where the flowers can mingle sweetly with the rising grass,

is in the south of Europe very Hence, as regards the primulas in general, holds the place of honour with the pre-Shaksperean

conspicuous. it

Old Brunfels (1532) figures it under the draughtsmen. of Herba Paralysis. In Fuchsius (1542) it is represented as Verbasculum odoratum; in Lobel (1576)

name

Primula pratensis. To Shakspere the flower must have been very dear, familiar as the violet, and no flower would he pluck more frequently, a circumstance that as

The Shakspere Flora.

ii2

makes one wonder

cowslip he should have

much made

the

that over the

the one solitary slip in

exactitude of description, which

shows in contrast so

striking to his otherwise strict accuracy.

with the matter already; for completeness' sake, to

A I'

and

will

have dealt

be enough, accordingly,

quote the passage anew

her

left breast,

mole, cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops the bottom of a cowslip,

when in the presence of never allow themselves to

to repeat that wise people,

nature and of supreme

art,

waste their time in more than a glance at errors and blemishes, seeing that the longest

life is still

too short for

Before grasp even of a tithe of the true and glorious. for flaws and much to look more defects, you begin before you begin to censure, assuming to be an arbiter

before you have learned how to be a student, be sure It is to be rememthat you appreciate all the worth. also, in regard to art, that the exercise of it by a master by no means forbids an ennobled representation of the thing it seeks to pourtray, as distinguished from a

bered

The profoundest and most of emotions pleasure are not by any means only enduring arise which those upon the contemplation of absolute

mechanically precise copy.

fidelity

some

on the part of the fair

little

enough

artist.

It is well to learn

how

to allow him, at times, to sacrifice

of accuracy in order that he

may

hearts with larger imaginings of beauty.

touch our

are not

deceived by what he does, any more than by the sweet

The Cowslip.

the

that

Shakspere never misled any one

legend of the Graces.

by saying

1 1

dots

the

flower are

cowslip

"crimson."

The

makes

allusions

the

cowslip

amount

altogether to six, though found in only four separate

Cymbeline, as already indicated,

plays

the Tempest, in Ariel's

Where

little

the bee sucks, there suck

In a cowslip's bell

the

Midsummer

King

Hmry

the

and

calamities of war.

gathered together.

The

places;

beautiful,

and

royal

and

The Henry -the -Fifth

once.

though mournful

and desolation induced

ruin

ii.,

I lie (v., i);

Night's Dream, in two

the Fifth,

mention occurs in the very picture of

i.,

song,

brilliant

kings of the

by the

company

rival

countries,

and Burgundy, all are present; the salutations proper to the time and splendid scene are duly exchanged; then comes the duke's appeal on behalf Gloster, Warwick,

of Peace, the most pathetic of ture

its

kind known to

litera-

duty to you both, an equal love, Great kings of France and England !

Extending

to forty-five lines,

too long to quote just

for the sake of the elegant little phrase in the heart of

it,

"the freckled cowslip."

Like the "lovely song of one who playeth well upon an instrument," it does not allow either of division or curtailing; but it is easy to find, and there need be

reward. i

distrust

the

certainty of the

The Shakspere Flora.

ii4 The

Midsummer

allusions in the

found, one,

facetiously,

the

Night's

masque

story

(the

Pyramus and Thisbe burlesqued) which even had already moved the spectators to " merry These

Dream

are

in rehearsal tears,"

brows,

lily

This cherry nose,

These yellow cowslip cheeks ;

the other in that charming flow of poetry wherewith the fairy first

announces Over

herself:

hill,

over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough Over park, over pale, I

brier,

Thorough flood, thorough fire, do wander everywhere, Swifter than the moones sphere,

And I serve the Fairy queen, To dew her orbs upon the green. The cowslips tall her pensioners be

;

In their gold coats spots you see ;

These be

rubies, Fairy favours,

In those freckles I

And hang

live their savours

must go seek some dewdrops here, a pearl in every cowslip's ear.

in the story of the "love-in-idleness,"

again most elegantly his royal mistress

The

(ii.,

I.)

Shakspere here

lures the imagination to thought of

Queen Elizabeth cowslips

tall

her pensioners be.

To-day we think of pensioners as no more than dependents, usually poor and disabled, upon the special generosity of the rich. court

The "pensioners"

of Elizabeth's

and retinue consisted of a band of

handsomest and the

tallest

men,

still

fifty

in the

of the

pride of

The Cowslip.

115

was possible to select from the best families in Their dress was of extraordinary splendour, the realm.

youth,

overlaid so heavily with gold embroidery, that to

consist of

little

else than gold;

"rubies," adding sparkle.

jewels, Shakspere's

Dame

visitors

she can think

(ii.

2), unless,

of,

nay, which

Quickly, in the

the gay and concludes with "And

Merry Wives of Windsor, reckoning up there has been earls

all

indeed, poor good-natured

though ignorant woman, she splendid apparel, and

pensioners"

and generous,

simply dazzled by their and gold con-

fancies that dress

Shakspere, there can be

stitute nobleness.

seemed

So high did these gentlemen

stand in the popular regard, that

noble

little

doubt,

had personal knowledge of their appearance, as the pensioners would form part of the royal train at the time of the queen's famous

the Earl of Leicester at

visit to

1575, ten or eleven years before the

Kenil worth, in

poet went up to London, where again he would have opportunities of seeing them. It preserves the "Tall" carries a twofold meaning. of the stature idea of the distinguished pensioners; it is

appropriate also to the idea of the tiny creatures who,

own

with Titania for their

when

particular

mistress, could,

alarmed, "creep into acorn cups."

the Nymphididj

Drayton, in

gives to the latter a very pretty

At midnight,

And (Quoth

the appointed hower;

for the

queene a

fitting

bower,

he), is that tall cowslip flower,

Hipcut

hill that

groweth.

echo

The Shakspere Flora.

1 1

The

five rubies, the

" spots,"

are the

of the Fairy

gift

Properly therefore, the line should be printed

queen. " These be rubies, Fairy favours."

The

derivation of the

certain

its

was the cu-slyppe or

luckily,

name

obscure.

All that

origin with the Anglo-Saxons, with

quite astray

Ben Jonson, unhe has the sense, thinking

cii-sloppe.

when

"Bright dayes-eyes and the

speaks of

whom

lippes

Cowes."

THE The all is,

OXLIP.

oxlip, scattered, like

the cowslip

and primrose,

over England, though nowhere an abundant plant,

botanically,

since

interesting

perhaps than

either,

These two

combines the characters of both.

plants appear, in truth, to be divergent expressions of a single type, the cowslip being a contracted or concen-

trated form of primrose, -the sulphur-yellow exalted into

golden yellow, and the latter

the

into

brightened

oxlip

these

five

tawny watery rays of the In orange spots.

well-defined

characters anastomose;

and

precisely

same manner, the geographical predominance is where the two plants most distinctly mingle and overlap, after the

The name rests obviously upon a as in old England. mistaken understanding of Ben Jonson's etymology of "cowslip," meaning the flower which to the cowslip is in dimensions

what the ox

gives a drawing of

odoratum.

the cow.

Fuchsius

under the name of Verbascum non

Lobel, also, as Primula pratensis inodora.

The Shakspere mentions

117

Oxlip, the

celebrated

song in the

Night's Dream, "I know a bank," and

Midsummer

Winter's

again in the

Tale,

iv.,

excellently distinguishes this flower

where Perdita so

under the epithet of

"bold."

Shakspere was fortunate in not being troubled with "Oxlip" has long since become

botanical uncertainties.

the

name

of two or three different things, the precise

relationship of which,

The

one to the other, is a problem. that one which seems

rich old Elizabethan flower

between cowslip and primrose

to oscillate

sidered to be an oxlip only by courtesy.

now

con-

Another plant

has put in claims to be considered the genuine oxlip;

and

name

the

admitted to be the rightful property

of whichever of the two

may seem

best entitled to the

rank of "species," then the Shaksperean flower must The second kind of oxlip is the plant called give way. in books,

Primula

elatior

and Primula Jacquinii.

Though

occurring in several parts of continental Europe,

was

discovered to be British only in 1842, when Mr. Doubleday noticed it in one or two of the eastern counties.

The

of .the

flowers

nearly

so,

They

pendulous.

instead of being erect,

elatior,

Perdita's

oxlip,

are

inclined

are paler in colour, not so

flat,

and

deficient in the five beautiful bosses so conspicuously

surrounding the

orifice in the centre

in the Shaksperean plant,

primrose. rose-like,

The as

scent also

and is

of the corolla, alike

in the cowslip

different,

in Perdita's flower, but

and the

not being prim-

somewhat

similar

The Shakspere Flora. to the less inviting

marked

odour of the grape-hyacinth.

technical distinction

seed-capsules, which

A very

observable also in the

the elatior are

narrow-oblong,

and of the same length as the calyx. Solve the problem as science may, one thing, happily, is changeless, the reality to

our hearts of the flower as

it is

in Shakspere.

THE

DAISY.

He says he loves my daughter, think so too; for never gazed the moon Upon the water, as he'll stand and read, I

'twere,

daughter's eyes ; and, to be plain, not half a kiss to choose

I think there is

Who

loves another best.

Winter's Tale,

the

daisy

iv., 3.

original fiore

prima

appears in Shakspere upon five It is one of the flowers occasions.

vera

gathered by Ophelia, appearing first when she enters the royal presence distracted,

then in the "fantastic garlands" she sought to hang Next we have it upon the willow "aslant the brook." in Cymbeline,

when Lucius and

iv., 2,

his soldiers,

sympathy by weeping Fidele, prepare to

headless corpse of Cloten

The boy hath Find out the

taught us manly duties

prettiest daisied plot

And make him

A grave.

Let us can,

with our pikes and partizans

moved

inter

the

The Shakspere Flora.

I2O The

quiet beauty of the

pearled Arcturi of the earth

as they dot the greensward before

to in the

Rape

shoots,

adverted

of Lucrece :

Without the bed her other fair hand was On the green coverlet, whose perfect white

Showed

an April daisy on the

Lastly, with the neatest of

little

grass. it

epithets,

leads off the

song at the end of Lovers Labour's Lost:

When

daisies pied,

and

violets blue,

And Lady-smocks all silver-white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight. "

Pied

means " painted," or many-coloured,

" literally

when Caliban

says of Trinculo, in the Tempest,

usual dress of a jester ninny's this xcviii.

" !

As used

being motley,

a pied

also so picturesquely in Sonnet

From you

have been absent in the spring,

When proud-pied April, dressed in all his Had put a spirit of youth in everything lines

iii.,

"What

the

which

and Juliet,

recall that other

charming passage in Romeo

the play that teems,

the vivacities of youth

When

trim,

more than any

other, with

well apparell'd April on the heel winter treads. (i., 2.)

Of limping

Applied to the

mound

field daisy,

felicitously describes the

of gold, set round with milk-white rays, the latter

very generally tipped with rosy crimson "crimson-circled star,"

whence the

-which gained for this innocent

121

The Daffodil. little

one."

Under this

stance

known name,

earliest

its

plant

still

Bellis, or the

" pretty

a rare circum-

current appellation

the daisy has mention as far back

botany

as the time of Pliny,

who

speaks of

the meadows, useful in medicine.

as a flower of

The etymology

of the

English name, as fairly indicated by the spelling, is found " The the eye of day." in the Anglo-Saxon dages-eage, daisy, says Chaucer,

That well by reason men may

The

call

may

deisie or els the eye of the day.

THE DAFFODIL. The

the flower of

daffodil

associated with the

name

wort, peculiar to early

swallow

dares,"

beauty,"

spring.

others most intimately

The

ecclesiastical

with

its

old " Lent "

pretty

time when the severity of winter

away and the days begin

milder.

before the

Lent-lily, or the spring-tide flower,

signifying, primarily, the

passes

the genuine harbingers of the

approaching season, and well deserves

synonym of

like the pile-

is,

Coming

"the winds of March

taking

counts with

all

of Perdita

to lengthen

of the term

and grow

a particular period has no further significance than such application

as arose

upon the contemporaneousness of the religious observance with the cheerful onward and upward spring

movement of living nature, declared as it is by nothing more conspicuously than the welcome daffodil. In another part of the same play we find it mentioned for

The Shakspere Flora.

122

the same reason, though by a personage very different from the gentle lady of old Sicilia :

When

daffodils begin to peer With, heigh the doxy over the dale ; Why then comes in the sweet o' the year, !

For the red blood reigns

in the winter's pale.

Autolycus, the singer, as of the verses which succeed, including that charming line

The

lark her tirra-lirra chants,

generously allowed to be poet as well as rogue, for no man ever knew better than Shakspere that wayward nature now and then unites contraries; and, as the is

illustrator of all

things,

he was bound to introduce at "

" Peer gives a poetical picture one example. which of its kind stands alone in language: the "sweet

least

of the year" the Fourth,

the choicest portion, just as in

v., 3,

we have

the "sweet

sense of the concluding word subject in which Shakspere was as a whole placing before the

how

Though flower,

the

found in heraldry, a

no poor scholar; the line in the liveliest manner

mind

opposed to

juices of frost and

may be somewhat homely, daffodil,

2nd Henry

the night:"

beautiful the energy of the vernal sap as

the dormant and colourless

The

icicle.

this cheerful old

has a very striking individuality.

and shapely vase in the centre, so elegantly waved and plaited, is unique among British plants. So tall

the very peculiar pre-Raphaelite look of the plant, derived from its attitude, when we see it growing upon

the opposite side of a

little

stream.

When

crowds

The Daffodil. among

the grass, there

not one, after the scarlet corn-

poppy, that in brilliant effect successfully rivals Scattered not only

abundant

south-western

it.

over England, but particularly

all

continental

Europe,

and

meadows with golden bloom at the time the mind is drawn most powerfully to the when of year of the Resurrection, no wonder that theme stupendous suffusing the

the daffodil

received

its

For

name.

daffodil

only

form of "asphodel," the Homeric name of the consecrated flower which the ancient Greeks

altered

associated with their Elysium, or the future state of the

The

blessed.

picture, as

The

somewhat gloomy.

drawn by Homer, flower

no doubt

nevertheless,

there,

growing in "meadows," the antetype, nearly three thousand years ago, of the "sweet fields" of the modern

hymn, and

in which the departed are represented as in congenial ways. themselves "After him I enjoying beheld vast Orion, hunting wild beasts, and the swift-

footed son of ^Eacus his son xi.

and

(still

joyful because I

upon earth) was very

xxiv.)

undiscoverable.

What It

had said that

illustrious."

particular flower

(Odyssey,

Homer intended

may have been the "poets' narcissus,"

which grows wild in Greece; or the polyanthus-narcissus, which extends, in a thin vein of distribution, all the way from Portugal to Japan; but it could not be the daffodil itself, since this does not occur in Homer's country.

There

no proof even

that

was a yellow

flower,

although the conjectural "asphodelus" of the botanists is

one of that colour.

Pindar,

true,

with

whom

The Shakspere Flora.

124

Paradise becomes insular, talks of the "flowers of gold" that

pertain

it,

on " resplendent

but some of them, he says, grow " the water feeds others,"

trees," while

so that, as elsewhere in the famous old Theban, "golden"

means no more than supremely beautiful. It is enough, however, that the bright hue of the daffodil, and " the time of the the period of its arrival, when singing plainly

of birds

the land,"

come, and the voice of the

recommended

fit

turtle is

heard in

inheritor of the

name,

which, changing first into affodyl and affodile, at last became " daffodil." The origin of the initial d is

undetermined.

Prof. Skeat says that

may

either

be a

survivor of the French d'affrodille or a prefix correspond-

ing to the

Ted, the short

for

Edward.

"take the winds of March with beauty"

charm or captivate them,

signifies to

just as in the Tempest,

v.,

Alonso says to Prospero,

I long hear the story of your

Take

The

expression was

Prov.,

vi.,

25,

life,

which must

the ear strangely.

common

"Lust not

in the age, as illustrated in

after her

beauty in thine heart;

neither let her take thee with her eyelids."

THE HAREBELL. "The iv.,

nutans,

azur'd harebell, like thy veins," in

the

wild

English

Cymbeline,

or sylvan hyacinth, Scilla

by the elder botanists called Hyaclnthus non-

The Harebell.

125

in reference to the scriptus, or the ''unlettered,"

romantic

old myth that the original or oriental hyacinth bore upon alas! of the lamenting its petals the AI, AI, alas!

To-day, by unfortunate confusion of names, this well-known wild-flower is very generally miscalled the god.

"blue-bell,"

the

latter

appellation

Campanula

Never

arriving until July,

ber, is

and lingering

properly

dark Novem-

till

silent spirit of the solitude," the

season of bloom

quite sufficient to distinguish the genuine blue-bell.

For that Shakspere intends the panula,

The

scilla,

plain from his putting

scilla

also

distinguished

contemporary botanical literature. in

belonging

rotundifolia, the blue-bell of Scotland.

to the

many

and not the cam-

beside the primrose. as

the

harebell

In Warwickshire, as

other parts of England, the harebell floods the

open spaces of green woods with the inexpressibly soft blue which, looking at a bed of these flowers from a little distance, always

makes

seem

as if they were bathed in

Shakspere doubtless knew, as well as

azure mist.

that they never look lovelier than early

on a

fine

do,

May

morning, when the sun shines under the young leaves of the trees above; thus, between the blue and green, illuminating both.

Azured," his matchless epithet,

the thousand illustrations

author has well said, precision,"

" poetry,

and can no more be

Shakspere

that, as

like science,

has

one of

some

its final

re-written than the elements

"Blue" means many different things, and " invariably requires some explanatory adjunct, as light," " dark." Azure denotes the colour of the sylvan or of geometry.

The Shakspere Flora.

126

Try as men will, they have simply to recur to such epithets, and confess that it has been done, once for all." It is by minute fidelity hyacinth and nothing besides.

to such details, seemingly unimportant, having nothing

do with the play

and which might be omitted

itself,

without affecting the sense or action, that the presence of the great poet is confirmed. Should he fail to inspire

we are wooed, and, failing this, we The resemblance of the colour to

us,

and the

epithet, recall the lines in the

are

still

regaled.

that of the veins,

Rape of Lucrece:

With more than admiration he admired Her azure veins, her alabaster skin, Her coral lips, her snow-white dimpled

chin.

OPHELIA'S "CROW-FLOWER." That a

little

uncertainty attaches to two or three of the

Shaksperean botanical names has already been mentioned.

One

of them, "crow-flower," occurs in the imperishable

Hamlet scene above and the willow

no apology

cited in connection with Ophelia

a scene so beautiful in

needed

for giving the

its

entirety that

whole of the context

It is wanted, in truth, for a right underover again. standing of the flower-lines :

There is a willow grows ascaunt the brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream. There, with fantastic garlands, did she come,

crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long-purples, liberal shepherds give a grosser name,

That

But our cold maids do dead men's

fingers call them.

127

Ophelias "Crow-flower" There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;

When down

her weedy trophies and herself her clothes spread wide, Fell in the weeping brook

And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up

Which time she chanted snatches of old As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and indued Unto

that element.

But long

;

tunes,

could not be,

heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay

Till that her garments,

To muddy

death.

Gerard gives crow-flower as the equivalent of Lychnis Floscuculi,

and upon his authority the latter is very generally But the lychnis does not come into bloom

accepted. till

a month

after the nettles

and the long-purples have

passed away, and the places of quite different, being in low

among is

natural growth are

rushes on the borders of ponds; while the nettle

emphatically

company of

sylvan,

names current

flower,"

and the long-purples love the

cowslips, though these also occur sometimes

in moist woodlands.

its

and marshy ground, often

Shakspere was probably thinking time very similar to "crow-

his

and no fewer than three of which were synonyms "

of harebell.

Hyacinthus," says Turner, the father of

English botany, "is also

be not of the beste, and

common it is

England, though

called crow-toes, crow-fote,

and crow-tees" the harebells

Lyte also calls (vol. 2, p. 18, 1562). " these be not the crow-toes," adding that

hyacinths wherein the mourning marks are (p.

206).

The

probabilities thus

seem

printed"

to point to the

128

The Shakspere Flora.

Scilla mitans,

and assuredly a more elegant idea could

not be asked for than of a chaplet presenting the threefold chord of colour blue, yellow, and red, flecked with " the white stars of the daisy. Crow-flower" is cited by Britten

and Holland

as a

north for the Scilla nutans.

name still employed in the The " crow-^//," it may be

added, was, in Shakspere's time, the daffodil.

OPHELIA'S "NETTLE." " nettle "

Ophelia's

flowered labiate,

that beautiful

to-day

dead-nettle, or yellow archangel,

Galeobdolon luteum. are haunted

by the

Abundant harebell,

deep rich yellow-

called

commonly

the

and by the

yellow

scientific,

shady places, such as

and

particularly partial to

banks of streams that are steep and shaded, Ophelia could not miss it. She would delight in the flowers, for these

make

little

verandahs round the stem, a ring

of them to every pair of leaves, thus forming a most exquisite

foil

hue and

to the harebell both in

figure.

The name,

given because of the resemblance of the leaves to those of the original or stinging nettle, and

which covered also the Lamium album, was in use long before the time of Shakspere. Turner describes the

Lamium

"a kynde of

nettels."

the

The

nettel

havyng leaves

" there be two kinds of Lyte also says

that byte not."

is scarcely developed when bloom, and the insignificant

stinging nettle

long-purples

are

flowers are not produced before July.

The Long- Purples.

129

THE LONG-PURPLES. Long-purples are, without question, the flowers of the crimson meadow orchis, Orchis mascula, the beautiful plant so well distinguished from everything else growing

wild in England by

its

hyacinthine general figure, spotted

and richly-dyed petals. The circumstances of its time and place are precisely such as the context requires, leaves,

and Shakspere himself contributes a very

interesting con-

clusive proof of the identity, not only in referring to the

"grosser name," preserved in the old Herbals, and which in his

manly delicacy he withholds from the

queen, but in citing the yet other name,

lips

of the

"dead men's

This last was given originally to the Orchis maculata and the Orchis conopsea, because of the strange similitude found in the palmate and cadaverous tubers,

fingers."

then passed on to the mascula as the orchis par excellence. Slightly varied, it occurs in the pathetic old ballad that tells

of the troubles of

"The Deceased Maiden

Lover": Then round

the

meddowes did she walke,

Catching each flower by the stalke,

Such as within the meddowes grew, As dead man's thumb and harebell blew;

And Alas

Certain

as she pluckt them, !

there's

modern

none

writers

still

cried she,

e'er loved like

me.

have tried to prove that by longArum maculatum

purples Shakspere intends either the or the

Lythrum

Salicaria.

That the Orchis mascula

The Shakspere Flora.

130

meant was shown

as far

old Shaksperean,

Dr.

vol.

i.,

back as 1777 by that admirable Lightfoot, in the Flora Scotica,

515.

"Liberal," in this pathetic Ophelia scene,

employed

in the primitive sense of unrestrained, thence licentious

and

Much Ado,

rude, as in

Othello,

i.,

"a most

iv.

liberal villain;" in

profane and liberal counsellor,"

meaning "adviser;" and in that Merchant of Venice, where we

"counsellor" here

excellent passage in the

are cautioned as to language in the presence of strangers

Gratiano,

Thou

art too wild, too rude,

Parts that

And

become thee happily enough,

Something too Othello, again,

the north wind No,

no faults ; known, why there they show

in such eyes as ours appear

But where thou

and bold of voice ;

art not

liberal.

it is

(ii.,

2.)

applied in the sense of "rude" to

I will

speak as liberal as the north.

(v., 2.)

Cold," the quality of snow and of sculptors' marble,

means, after the same manner, modest, decorous, incorrupt in speech, the idea which Shakspere invariably connects with genuine womanliness, for Celia, when she

once forgets

may be considered to be the victim The expression occurs also in the where the flowers of April serve to make

herself,

of her boy's clothes. Tempest,

iv., i,

Cold nymphs chaste crowns.

Before leaving this celebrated passage,

may be

well to

The Lady-smock. point out the error in

some

131

editions, in the printing of

the third line, Therewith fantastic garlands did she come,

and then, changing

order to preserve consistency, wantonly

"come"

into

"make."

"Therewith" implies

that the garlands

were manufactured from the willow,

which

The

absurd.

sense of the "there"

obviously

thither, to that place, the foot of the tree.

THE LADY-SMOCK. Shakspere's reference to this delicate and thrice-familiar field-flower

the only one in which he indulges himself

was commented upon with explanation, in our opening Here we have only to speak of the meaning chapter. of the name, which like almost all others beginning with Lady, dates from the early middle ages, and to imply

Dame,

some

intended

sort of association with the idea of

Notre

the Virgin Mary, her appearance, her attire, or

her virtues, and occasionally, perhaps, some kind of consecration.

Lady's tresses, Lady's mantle, Lady's fingers,

Lady's signet, are

all

well known.

The

beautiful green

and white ribbon-like leaves of the digraphis were Shakspere's time,

Lady-laces;

the primrose

still

Germany, our Lady's key, being the flower with which she unlocks the spring. The history of the original use of some of these names classical mythology, in

seem

doubtless to be looked for in

connection with Venus; others

have been derived from the ancient Scandi-

The Shakspere Flora.

132

navian mythology, wherein they relate to the goddess In any case the Freyja, the "frau" or mother-queen. final settlement was upon the idea of the Virgin upon "

whom

her to

belongs

ecclesiastical calendar,

cathedral;

be if

Lady-day," March 25th, in the

and the Lady-chapel

written, as

sometimes wrongfully, in the

the allusion were to ladies in general.

of the

in the

Gothic

and none, accordingly, of these names should

name

plural, or as

The

application

of Lady-smock to the Cardamine pratensis,

the flower intended in Shakspere, seems to have been

suggested by the peculiarly soft and translucent character of the petals, " silver-white," with faint

lilac tinge,

and

network scarcely visible, all in harmony with ideas of the inmost clothing of purity, such as the mind naturally associates with thought of the Virgin, and which are heightened by the sweet spectacle when these pretty flowers, diffused abundantly, help to "paint the

we may be

flowers it

entirety

meadows

Lest while contemplating the particular

with delight."

overlook the singular beauty of the conclusion, well to quote the passage again,

and

its

When

daisies pied,

and

violets blue,

And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, And Lady-smocks all silver-white,

Do For to " paint

paint the "

meadows with

delight.

does not mean, as in ordinary converse,

simply to add colour, though this is perfectly compatible with the general idea, but to enrich or adorn, the use of the

word found

as far

back as 200

B.C.,

and with

precisely

133

Cuckoo-flowers. the same application, in the celebrated

Chaucer also has

Plautus.

Roman

dramatist,

the Frankliris

Tale,

235:

A garden full

of leaves and of flowers, painted with her softe showers.

Which May had It is

in the

passage in

same sense again

that

appears in the

King John, To

gild refined gold, to paint the

where no reference scarlet martagon,

lily,

intended to such of

race as the

its

Shakspere thinking, probably, when he

wrote the words, of Solomon, who, in "all his

was

still

not arrayed like one of these.

"When daisies intended by

pied," &c.,

Iris in that

seem

The

glory,'

four lines,

enumerate the flowers

charming

little

interlude in the

when

she points to the neat finish given by the industrious farmer to the meadow-borders Tempest,

Thy banks with pioned and twilled brims, Which spongy April at thy hest betrims.

Some would have

the words to be " peonied

and

lilied."

But peonies do not arrive until Whitsuntide, and then only in gardens; and were the ground already dressed with flowers so splendid, it certainly would need no betrimming.

"Pioned" and "twilled"

are

old words

denoting use of the spade and mattock.

CUCKOO-FLOWERS. "Cuckoo-flower," with the old herbalists, was a synonym The former name covered, how-

of "Lady-smock." ever,

many

other plants, and to

fix

what

denotes in

The Shakspere Flora.

134

particular instances is often impossible.

Such

the case

with the solitary Shaksperean mention, which occurs in Cordelia's description of distracted Lear: Alack,

'tis

As 'mad

why, he was met even now,

as the vex'd sea; singing aloud;

Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow weeds,

With harlocks, hemlock,

nettles, cuckoo-flowers,

Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow In our sustaining corn. (iv., 4.)

None

of the plants ordinarily called "cuckoo-flowers"

are associates of cornfield weeds, nor

do any of them

bloom

spring

at the

summer

same

period.

All are

early

Very possibly Shakspere may here not have intended anything definite; for we must not shut flowers.

our eyes to the unquestionable fact that the poets universally, at times,

introduce names and words for the sake

purely of rhyme, or euphony, or to balance the metre.

There are some similar old wild-flower names, however, with " cuckoo" for their first portion, which, provincially, but rather inconsistently, denote plants of late summer

and autumn, and it is just possible that Shakspere may have had one or other of these in view. No plant has " ever been more closely identified with the " furrows of

August than the beautiful sky-blue corn-flower or blueand according to Britten and

bottle, Centaurea Cyanits,

Holland,

this identical plant is in

" cuckoo-hood."

One

was flos frumentornm. "

some

parts

still

called

middle age names Another name was "hurt-sickle,"

because," says Gerard,

its

earliest

hindereth and annoyeth the

Cuckoo-buds.

135

by dulling and turning the edges of their sides would well entitle it

reapers,

in reaping of corne," a quality that

appears to

infrequent,

Shaksperean age, wheat,

The cyanus, though now have been very general in the groweth," Gerard adds, "among

epithet of "idle."

the

rie,

for "it

barley,

and other

graine."

CUCKOO-BUDS. "

Shakspere's

cuckoo-buds,"

may

safely

be assumed to

be the same as the "buttercups" of to-day, especially the Ranunculus acris, usually, after the great Lingua of For there are three the waterside, the tallest of its race.

common meadow

the acris, or

quite distinct species:

and

buttercup; the turnip-rooted, Ranunculus bulbosus; the creeping buttercup, Ranunculus repens. are extremely

common, but only

the two first-named are

and although they

apt to give a character to the meads, often

grow intermingled, the acris

in spring

and

early

All three

the most abundant

summer.

In gardens, from time immemorial, there has been a variety with double flowers, the analogue of the familiarly "Fair

aconitifoliuS)

double-blossomed

form

owner of the very old buttons."

who on

So, at least, p.

the double

422 gives

maids of France."

appears floricultural it

he adds,

double

state.

very

name

the

This rightful

"Bachelors'

would a

appear from Lyte, second appellation of

"gold-cup," the wild

which,

prone

or to

single

form to

of the

change any other plant went commonly by

The Shakspere Flora.

136 the same

name

in the Elizabethan age,

would be the

double form of the wild red campion, Lychnis sylvestris. In any case, there can be little doubt that they were the of the same ranunculus,

flowers

when

double,

which

under the contracted appellation of "buttons" were supposed in the Elizabethan age to have some magical

A reference to upon the fortunes of lovers. them occurs in the Merry Wives of Windsor, iii., 2, "He capers, he dances, he has eyes of youth, he writes influence

verses,

he speaks holiday, he smells April and May: he it, he will carry it, 'tis in his buttons, he will

will carry

carry

it."

speaks holiday

means

good and

polished language, just as in King Henry the Fourth we have " with many holiday and lady terms." " He smells April and

months.

May" means

like the flowers

of those two

WILD-THYME. Her

voice was ever

soft,

Gentle, and low, an excellent thing in

woman.

King Lear,

HAT

dainty and fragrant

little

v., 3.

denizen of

sunny hedgebanks, the Thymus Serpyllum, like the two or three preceding flowers, is 1

mentioned by Shakspere only once. lines in which the name occurs

The

having been set to music, are better known perhaps to people in general than any others in his writings: I

know

a bank whereon the wild thyme blows.

Midsummer Night's Dream,

How much

shown by the

was prized

allusion in

Shakspere's

porary, Francis Bacon,

"On

the

ii.,

Elizabethan age

Lord Verulam,

great in

contem-

whose essay we have

Gardens," originally published in 1597,

The Shakspere Flora.

138 the following:

"And

because the breath of flowers

sweeter in the air (where it comes and goes, like the warbling of music) than in the hand, therefore nothing far

for that delight

fit

and plants

know what be

than to

the

do best perfume the air, and those which perfume the air most delightfully, not flowers

passed by as the

that

rest,

sure,

successor of the

autumn

slopes of airy

hills,

and water-mint."

had often noticed oxlip

strewed

its

and the purple

violet,

for

beneath,

and when

him over the green

swelling into those pretty

hanging

Shakspere,

this plant, alike as

and bloomy cushions which show the or.

but trodden upon and crushed, are

three, burnet, wild-thyme,

we may be

little

knolls

lightness of the

in rosy curtains

soil

from the crevices

of jutting crags, after the sweet old fashion which in

England

so entirely

and purely

its

own.

THE DOG-ROSE. Shakspere was not unobservant of the dog-roses of the hedge and wilderness, where the tremulous sprays and arching wreaths, covered with

young

little

pink concaves, their

hearts golden, toss themselves out with the care-

less grace so characteristic of this beautiful wild-flower.

its produce, upon four distinct no instance by the appellation of

speaks of the plant, or

occasions, though

to-day, employing, in three instances, very curiously, the

name

of the grub which

the flower-bud

often

occupies the heart of

the "canker" by which the petals are

The Dog-rose. consumed while with so

many

still

139

embryo, and which furnishes him

apt comparisons.

Thus, bud

the most forward

by the canker ere it blow, Even so by love the young and tender wit Is eaten

Is turn'd to folly ;

blasting in the bud,

Losing his verdure even in the prime,

And

all

the fair effects of future hopes.

Two

So again from the John,

iii.,

lips

Gentlemen of Verona,

of unhappy Constance, in

i.,

Kin*

4: But now

will canker sorrow eat my bud, chase the native beauty from his cheek, so he'll die.

And And

How on

happened

name

that the

of the grub was passed

Mr. H. T.

to the plant does not clearly appear.

Riley, in Notes

and

Queries (First Series,

x.,

153), says

there was a superstition that scratches inflicted prickles were peculiarly harmful and

causing, as

canker

were,

name

the

cancers.

little

thrice

difficult

this

employed by Shakspere

The

rose looks

For

that sweet odour that doth in

fair,

but fairer

by the

to heal, it

may,

deem,

it live.

The canker blooms have full as deep a dye As the perfumed tincture of the roses, 2 but they v .

Die

to themselves.

Sweet roses do not so ;

their sweet deaths are sweetest odours

made. Sonnet,

Then

Much Ado, i., 3, "I a hedge than a rose in his

in the beautiful passage in

had rather be a canker

liv.

The Shakspere Flora.

140

which means, " I would rather live in privacy the simple and honest life of nature than be dependent

grace,"

on the favours of a in ist

Henry

Lastly, in metaphorical use,

prince."

the Fourth,

we have

i.,

To put down Richard, that sweet, And plant this thorn, this canker,

The remaining

allusion

ing in late October,

to the

when

view of the innumerable The oaks bear

the

little

lovely rose,

Bolingbroke.

so rich and glowof the leaf givqs full

fruit,

fall

urns

mast, the briars scarlet hips.

Timon of Athens,

"Briar" always the

common

signifies, primarily,

iv., 3.

the plant before us,

wild rose of the hedges.

In two or three

Shaksperean lines it denotes the garden or cultivated rose, as will be noticed in due course. Occurring in nearly a dozen places besides, with one exception, it points

everywhere

else,

part at least, to the

Rosa

canina.

THE EGLANTINE. In the instance referred ful species

hued

Rosa which

to,

flowers, the excellent

foliage,

whence the

"briar" denotes that delight-

possesses, in addition to deep-

recommendation of scented

familiar

epithet

"sweet."

respect of this union of characters, the sweet-briar or curious French eglantine (the latter name, through descent, from the Latin aculeus, a prickle) has no rival

among

its

kindred, and scarcely anywhere in botanical

The Eglantine.

Being an indigenous plant, not rare in hedges

nature.

and

141

thickets,

Shakspere quite probably knew

as such,

though more commonly as an inmate of the garden, where it always had a place. The old poets introduce constantly in their pictures of garden pleasures.* Chaucer gives the name of eglantine to one of his ladies. Twice in Shakspere himself, it comes in under the latter

appellation, helping, in the

Midsummer

Night's Dream,

"over-canopy" the bank "whereon the wild thyme blows;" and serving in Cymbelinetm the beautiful comto

parison already quoted, violet,

here connected

still

when with Cytherea and the more elegantly with Imogen

Thou The The The

shall not lack

flower that's like thy face, pale primrose, nor azur'd harebell, like thy veins ; no, nor leaf of eglantine,

whom

not to slander,

Out-sweetened not thy breath.

The

simpler

name

occurs in All's Well that

that wonderful play which,

if less

Ends

Well,

abounding in sweet

and grand poetic imagery and description than the other *

Thus I

would make cabinets

for thee,

my love

made

of eglantine. Barnfield. The Affectionate Shepherd.

Sweet-smelling arbours

Art, striving to

compare

With Nature, did an arbour green dispread, Framed of wanton Ivie, flow'ring faire, Through which the fragrant Eglantine did spread His prickling arms, entrayl'd with Roses red, Which dainty odours round about them threw And all within with flowers was garnished, That, when mild Zephyrus amongst them blew, Did breathe out bounteous smells, and painted colours shew. Spenser. The Bower of ;

Bliss.

The Shakspere Flora.

142

principal comedies, supplies

one of the most striking

proofs given by any of the gay and cheerful ones, of

power of

Shakspere's incomparable bare, as

portraiture,

laying

does, the character of Helena:

The time

When And Coleridge

briars shall

will bring on summer, have leaves as well as thorns,

be as sweet as sharp.

(iv., 4.)

Helena Shakspere's

calls

"loveliest character."

Mrs. Jameson, who is always right, says in regard to her, " There never was a more beautiful picture of a woman's secret, not self-consuming in silent languishment, not pining in thought not passive and

love cherished in

'desponding over strong in

its

own

its

idol,'

intensity,

The

but patient and hopeful,

and sustained by

own fond

its

of her affection, combining with the natural energy of her character, believing all faith.

things possible,

faith

makes them

so.

would say

the

mountain of pride which stands between her and her hopes, 'Be thou removed!' and it is removed." This is not

all.

Helena's love

of the kind that shrinks from

exertion, retires before

ness,

incapable of dismay,

repulse, resents lives,

no unkind-

moves, and has

its

being in the quenchless conviction that some day, let it only be faithful, the reward shall come, and the heart bathe

itself in gladness.

How exquisitely consistent, then,

any one else, should adduce this charming eglantine image, impossible to quote too often

that Helena, rather than

for one's

own

personal sustentation of

wintry to-day, never

mind

hope

on,

Though

spirit.

hope ever

The Woodbine. The time

will bring

When briars shall have leaves And be as sweet as sharp.

on summer, as well as thorns,

end she should triumph, and

It is right that in the

the original second

143

title

justify

of this inspiring story, " Love's

Labour Won."

THE WOODBINE. By

authors of earlier date than Shakspere the

woodbine was applied

the sense being the encircler to

the wild

the

consent,

has

"Travellers'

clematis,

restricts

how

for

Turner

by common three centuries denoted in the

periclymenon (the ancient Greek

appellation, found in Dioscorides)

English woodbynde,

Joy."

plant which,

sprightly

vernacular, saying,

name of

weak-stemmed climbers, of trees, and very specially

to various

and

some

...

named

places of England

To Shakspere the double appellation was In two places the names stand side by side; one instance only does woodbine occur alone; honey-

honysuckle." familiar. -in

suckle never does

of the bank, addition to

so.

The former

enriches the picture

"whereon the wild thyme blows;"

its

this, in

garniture of eglantine, being

Quite over-canopied with lush woodbine,

while for the coupled names Night's

Dream and

turn to the

Midsummer

Much Ado:

TITANIA: Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms, So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle

The Shakspere Flora.

144

the female ivy so

Gently entwist

Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.

Midsummer

HERO

Night's Dream,

iv.,

Good

Margaret, run thee in the parlour, There shall thou find my cousin Beatrice

Proposing with the Prince and Claudio. ear, and tell her I and Ursula

Whisper her

Walk

in the orchard,

Is all of her.

And

Say

and our whole discourse

that thou overheard'st us;

bid her steal into the pleached bower, honeysuckles, ripened by the sun,

Where

Forbid the sun to

Made proud by

enter, like favourites

princes, that

advance their pride

Against that power that bred it ; there will she hide her To listen to our purpose. Much Ado, iii., i.

Margaret plays her part well; Beatrice is enticed into the garden; she thinks she is unobserved: Hero resumes with Ursula

Now

begin,

For look where Close by

and then we

Beatrice, like a lapwing, runs the ground, to hear our conference ;

listen

once more to the beautiful imagery not more remarkable for its

so abounding in a play

and diverting humour than

brilliant wit

URSULA The pleasant'st :

angling

Were

for

silver stream,

greedily devour the treach'rous bait

So angle we

for Beatrice,

to see the fish

Cut with her golden oars the

And

for the poetry

;

who even now

couched in the woodbine coverture.

no more than that the mention of the wood-

bine brings us into the atmosphere breathed by Beatrice, the occurrence of the for the

name would be matter for rejoicing, Much Ado comes, as in

essential interest of

The Woodbine.

145

several of the other plays, of the admirable conjunction

of two separate themes. First, we have a dramatic lifethen a profound chapter in philosophical history;

psychology; yet the two are so blended as not to admit, even for a moment, of severance. The dramatic evolution of the tale

Interwoven with

perfect.

we have

the fine tissue of personal character which renders the

study of Beatrice inexhaustible; given at the same time without any lengthy detail of description, therefore with guarantee of the noblest intellectual pleasure, since this, as in all

consummate works

of art,

arises

upon

quiet

sense of brief and minute creative touches, which are so subtle too that they never seem to be art at all. " " Beatrice," as Mr. Furnival says,

celare artem.

Ars is

the

most piquant, sparkling, madcap girl that Shakspere ever drew; and yet a loving, deep-natured true

sauciest,

woman,

too."

Evidence, so-called

Suspicion

What

are these to her?

heart,

where no base thought ever has lodged:

Then when means

O, on

she

soul,

She knows her

cousin

married,

"we

that the perfection of

pure

belied!

all

the brightest, sunniest married

sorrow, doubling of joy."

friend's

know what

life,

comfort in

Hazlitt remarks

somewhere

woman's nature consists

in the

tenacity of her affections, resolving into a combination

of amiable strength with amiable weakness.

Beatrice

If men do not realise supplies a perfect illustration. her character, it is for the same reason, probably, that L

The Shakspere Flora.

146 others

do not

Shakspere in the aggregate

realise

have not lived long enough

for the reality to

they

come home

to them."

But we must not forget the description of the bower into which Hero decoys her. First, it is "pleached," or

formed of branches folded together, as in another line in the same play, where Antonio speaks of the "thick-

The same

pleached alley" in his "orchard" or garden. is used figuratively in Antony and

word iv.,

And Thy

The

Cleopatra,

12: see

master thus with pleach'd arms bending down.

" honeysuckles, in turn, are ripened by the sun," or

so luxuriant in leaf

and bloom

as to form

screen, forbidding "the sun to enter."

simple enough; they make no illustrate,

once

again, in the

the perfection of power possible

amount of

word

passage.

an impenetrable

The

phrases are

pretension;

but they

most admirable manner, that

to excel with the slightest

material.

upon the Midsummer Nighfs Dream Some would have it printed and punctuated also

so as to imply that the woodbine twists round the honey-

suckle

So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle Gently entwist.

But

let

cluded,

other

"woodbine" weak

weak

signify

what

things seeking support

things,

may, clematis

in-

do not twine round

but round strong ones.

In both

The Woodbine. no doubt,

cases,

in actual nature,

147

two or three of the

long limp stems are occasionally found coiled together, But this is to be like the strands of a rope or cable. regarded only as an accident coming of near proximity; the exception,

and not the

rule of life;

an occurrence of

the same nature as the reciprocal grip of the tendrils

when

of peas and vetches

The

there

is nothing exterior to impulse of all twiners and

take hold

of.

climbers;

the impetus which prefigures instinct, just as

instinct prefigures stantial

and

only of

self:

original

reason,

"As

what

something subanother part

woodbine nor clematis ever per-

neither

manently flourishes except by stronger.

clasp

outside, rather than

With proper

looking

stops, the sense

something

clear enough.

the woodbine, otherwise called the honeysuckle,

and

the female ivy, embrace the elm," Titania means, "so will I,

love, encircle thee."

to.

Shakspere's intention in using

make quite plain what plant he refers "Woodbine" having been applied to various plants,

both names

wishful that there shall be

that the imagination

Lonicera.

shall

no misapprehension, and

be fixed at once upon the

One cannot but remember,

in passing, that

pretty passage in William Bulleyn, the old botanist

preacher, temp.

Henry VIIL, when,

and

after describing the

sweet smell of the honeysuckle after a shower of rain, he " it spredeth forth his sweete lilies like goes on to say

among the thorns." The common or great hedge bindweed,

ladies' fingers

sepium, so distinguished for the

charm

its

Convolvuhis white bell-

The Shakspere Flora.

148

and lovely that Virgil employs them as an image of the nymph Galatea, has been thought by some to be the woodbine of the passage before us. But flowers, so pure

see, there is

The Ben Jonson, who

conjecture.

no occasion

to resort to

any such

idea seems to have been derived from himself, however,

take, since he intends the Solatium

makes a double misDulcamara.

So, the blue bindweed doth itself enfold

With honeysuckle

and both these entwine Themselves with briony and jessamine, To cast a kind and odoriferous shade. ;

Vision of Delight.

Cljapt^r

THE GARDEN FLOWERS. He

hath songs for

man

woman

all sizes.

Winter's Tale,

EENLY

alive to the

iv., 4.

charms of wild and

untrimmed nature, Shakspere could not fail to love a well-furnished and well-kept garden.

How

he delighted in the conlittle enclosures which

templation of the Taste, in fruits,

all

ages, has devoted

plain

to choice flowers

and

from the numberless allusions in the

dramas, not simply to gardens, but to gardeners and to horticultural operations, the latter being generally used,

moreover, for some beautiful image or comparison, as in the celebrated scene in King Richard the Second. The subject of discourse

is the forlorn condition of the country induced by the misgovernment of the unfortunate king,

The Shakspere Flora.

150

already deposed, the head-gardener giving directions to his subordinates

Go, bind thou up yon dangling apricocks, like unruly children,

Which,

make

their sire

Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight.

ASSISTANT

Why

should we, in the compass of a pale,

law, and form, and due proportion, Showing, as in a model, our firm estate ?

Keep

When

our sea- walled garden, the whole land,

Is full of weeds, her fairest flowers

choked up,

Her fruit-trees all unpruned, her hedges ruined, Her knots disordered, and her wholesome fruits Swarming with caterpillars? Hold thy peace

GARDENER

that hath suffered this disordered spring, Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf:

The weeds

that his broad-spreading leaves did shelter,

That seemed, in eating him, to hold him up, Are plucked up, root and all, by Bolingbroke. I

mean

the Earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green.

What, are they dead ? GARDENER They ai'e, and Bolingbroke

ASSISTANT

seized the wasteful king. Oh! what pity is That he had not so trimmed and dressed his land,

Hath

As we this garden We, at time of year Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit trees, !

Lest, being over-proud with sap and blood, With too much riches it confound itself.

Had

he done so to great and growing men, lived to bear, and he to taste

They might have Their

fruits

of duty.

We lop away, Had

he done

All superfluous branches

that bearing

boughs may

live

himself had borne the crown, Wliich waste of idle hours hath quite thrown down. so,

(iii.,4.)

Elizabethan Gardens. The

151

disordered "knots" are the flower-beds, which in

the gardens of the Elizabethan times were

marked out

with mathematical precision of form and outline, so as to

produce in the aggregate, quaint patterns, the entire area of the ground, which was always rectangular, being comThe idea seems to have been to lay pletely occupied.

some kind of accordance with the

out the garden in

domestic architecture of the period, which delighted in straight lines, gables, long terraces, flights of broad stone steps,

and

in the interior, in long galleries, with bay-

windows, and abundance of tracery. It was just such a one as this which is adverted to in Love's Labour's Lost, i.,

i.:

"It standeth north-north-east and by east, from

the west corner of thy curious-knotted garden."

In these elaborately-constructed gardens there was never any lawn. The space was wholly devoted to with a few flowers, simple evergreen shrubs, such as box and dwarf yew. Adjoining them were pleasant "alleys"

and shaded been an

walks,

and bowers and arbours seem

essential feature.

The

have

flowers were of the kinds

cherished to-day as "old favourites," comprising

many

brought in from the neighbouring woods and meadows, a good number from continental Europe, and a sprinkling of choice rarities from the Levantine countries, Persia,

and northern

Africa.

Seven-eighths of the contents of the

modern English garden, it is almost needless to remark, were quite unknown. Scarcely anything had arrived from America, and not a single species from the Cape of

Good Hope, from

eastern Asia, or from Australia, then

The Shakspere Flora.

152

The number

undiscovered. rather

still

herbalists,

of plants in cultivation was as

considerable, especially

from

appears

Gerard, whose

old

the

massive volume

So far as it is possible to judge from the allusions in Elizabethan literature, it would seem as

appeared in 1597. if in

the Shaksperean age there was

the few flowers then possessed, than

real love for

compatible with

The

the embarras de richesse of the present day.

mous

now

quantity

possessed, the

novelties, alike forbid the quiet friendship

centuries

there

ago was plenty to sweetest manner.

there

The seen,

was so

little

sustain,

and

which three

distract,

very brief, yet the

list

though

to invigorate in the

catalogue of Shakspere's wild-flowers, as

enor-

incessant arrival of

we have

of his garden flowers

only half as long, extending to only eight or nine.

had no occasion the references

fall,

mention any more; the great mass of as it is, upon only two, the lily and

the rose, these having been, from time immemorial, the

metaphors

poets'

for

loveliness

feminine, and as shown

truth, part of the established

The shushan and Xe/ptov

and

Romans,

and

purity,

especially

in the feminine cheek, thus, in

vocabulary of civilised man.

chabhatslseleth of the

Hebrews, the

podov of the Greeks, the lilium and rosa of the

are their antetypes; only that while the applica-

tion of the ancient names

indefinite,

and the botanical

species intended are often indeterminable, the nearer

draw

to the Shaksperean

times the more precise they

become, Chaucer leading the way

in our

own

country,

till,

Rose and Lily. at last, in

rest,

Shakspere himself, as in the case of the

and

lily

events,

violet,

actual beginning of

usage, like the sources of great rivers,

hidden among the mountains.

as old, at all

as the time of Solomon, whose use of the words

above cited is

The

in thankfulness.

the rose and is

153

only another

white and ruddy," an

cance lying within.

" way of saying My beloved amount of grand signifi-

infinite

reflects the latter

Shakspere

when

Viola, in Twelfth Night, says to Olivia, 'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.

The comparison comes

the

front

again

(ii.,

4.)

King

John,

Nature's gifts thou may'st with lilies boast, with the half-blown rose (iii., i),

And

an allusion so much the more beautiful from the circumstance that the rose

the only flower which

quite as

opening bud as when full blown. Theoso admired the rose when in this condition that he

lovely in the critus

calls the flowers

See

how

exquisitely

Lucrece, the figure here partly

in the

Rape of

upon a

later event of history

The

Shakspere never

simply calyces.*

of the twofold citation.

silent

war of

and of

lilies

roses.

So again in Coriolanus: Our veil'd dames war of white and damask in Their nicely-gauded cheeks to the wanton

Commit Of

the

Phoebus' burning kisses

(ii.,

* Idyll,

iii.,

23.

l);

spoil

tires

reappears

founded

The Shakspere Flora.

154 "Damask" noted

the colour of the

for its fine

damask

crimson hue, whence

Damascus

in Pliny the

rose,

happy

This species had also (as to the present day) a white variety, and another that was particoloured, which latter is referred to in As You Like It: epithet, ardentissima.

There was a pretty redness in his lip; A little riper and more lusty red Than that mixed in his cheek. 'Twas just the difference Betwixt the constant red and mingled damask. (iii., 5.)

"Constant" here means uniform or unbroken, as usual in the petals of roses, very few presenting a mixture of

Some

colours.

silken

think that the other allusion

called

fabric

"damask,"

crossing of the threads,

different

which,

to the

skilful

shades are produced This last is in any

according to the play of the light. case the intent of the word, most likely, in the famous lines in Twelfth

Night: She never

told her love,

concealment, like a worm i' the bud, Feed on her damask cheek. (ii., 4.)

But

let

Apart from the poets' use of rose and loveliness

and

perfection,

lily

names

for

very interesting to observe

that these two flowers are representative of the two great

sections into which

all

plants bearing flowers are divided

namely the exogens'and the endogens, or Individual the dicotyledons and the monocotyledons. species of each section attain greater dimensions, and

botanists,

are of incomparably greater service to

economic

utility;

man

in point of

but the pentamerous perianth of the

The Rose.

155

one, perfectly regular, the petals free, and the calyx and corolla quite distinct; and the remarkably symmetrical

and

of the sex-partite or tri-partite perianth

elements all congenerate in

other, the

colour and substance, are

super-emtnently characteristic of the From rose and respective plans of general structure. what of our best ideas exogens and lily we acquire still

in the front,

endogens

really are; the twofold

realm of

floral

nature

universally acknowledges them the respective queens. The place and period of the uprise of the two names, rose and lily, is undetermined. All that can be said with certainty is that they are of oriental and very ancient birth.

The

roses cultivated in English gardens in the Shak-

sperean age appear to have been the centijolia, with its variety, the Provincialis ; the above-named Damascena, so called from the glorious

which of

all

old Syrian

city,

that

one

the ancient cities in the world has alone

remained unscathed;

the moschata, or musk-rose,

and

would seem, from the very to double roses, and the and references scanty vague the alba; and of these,

frequent allusions to the beautiful yellow centre of the rose in

its

natural state, the original or single forms alone

were general.

The

latter,

conventionalised, was the rose

of heraldry, as shown by Mr. Boutell, plate

When

was that the

in our country

Possibly in the early

made

earliest its

Roman

xiii., fig.

of the roses

appearance no one

can

times; more probably

385.

arrive tell.

in the

Norman, or during the period of the Crusades, the

enterprises which contributed so greatly to the

new

birth

The Shakspere Flora.

156

of civilisation in Europe, to of

art,

the

and of the

the diffusion of the love

beautiful in all

its

Wars of the Roses, beginning

The

forms.

A.D. 1455,

story of

shows that

the white flower was then cultivated as well as the red,

and

that

cance not

was

sufficiently well

inferior.

known

to carry signifi-

are apt to forget sometimes, in

our attention to prose history, how much Englishmen owe to Shakspere in respect of his dealing with those wars. Shakspere has made them what the "Tale of

Troy" was to the Greeks, only that the narrator is greater even than Homer. As a celebrated statesman lately told

"If you take the works of Shakspere from

us,

Richard

Richard the Third, inclusive, you have the Wars of the Roses treated with a vigour and a variety of conduct, and a multiplicity of incident which the Second to

the Iliad cannot excel, combined with a

human

interest

which no ancient work ever yet commanded." calmly the story opens

How

PLANTAGENET Let him that is a true-born gentleman, And stands upon the honour of his birth, :

he suppose that

have pleaded

truth,

From off this briar pluck a white rose with me. SOMERSET Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer, :

But dare maintain the party of the truth, Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me.

The

nobles take their respective sides; the contention

grows more and more angry as it proceeds; at the words from Warwick, so terribly verified :

And

here I prophesy

Grown

This brawl to-day,

to this faction, in the

Temple Garden,

last

come

The Rose.

157

Shall send, between the red rose and the white,

A thousand souls to death and deadly night. ist

Without reckoning the repetitions in which amount

to nearly thirty;

the Sixth,

King Henry

ii.

famous scene,

this

independently also of the

apothecary's "old cakes of roses," dried rose leaves, Thinly scattered to make up a show,

Romeo and Juliet,

and of the mention of rose-water

in the

iv.,

Taming of

the

Shrew, Let one attend him with a

silver basin,

Full of rose-water, and bestrewed with flowers,

there occur in Shakspere nearly sixty allusions to this flower of incontestable

object of nature

The

Including those

queenliness.

already cited, fully one-third of

them touch

as an

seasons alter ; hoary-headed frosts

Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose.

Midsummer

Night's Dream,

ii.,

i.,

ii.,

ii.

At Christmas I no more desire a rose Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled shows, But

like of each thing that in season grows.

Love's Labour's Lost,

name ? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet. Romeo and Juliet,

What's

by the roses of the spring, By manhood, honour, truth, and everything, Csesario,

I love thee so

The

Twelfth Night,

last-named seems to indicate the time of year of this

charming play, so

well

characterised

"a genuine

The Shakspere Flora.

158

comedy, a perpetual fount of the gayest and sweetest fancies;" for, laid as the scene

capricious lady Olivia's

own

is,

in the graceful

though

garden, nothing would be

natural than that she should

make

witnesses of the

flowers beside her.

Then we have uses

the long succession of beautiful figurative

How now, my love, why is your cheek so pale ? How chance the roses that do fade so fast ? Midsummer Night's Dream, Their

lips

Which

were four red roses on one

in their

summer beauty

Hail,

you Proclaim you are no

kissed each other.

Richard virgin, if

i.,

stalk,

the Third, iv., 3.

be, as those cheek-roses less.

Measure for Measure,

i.,

or rather do not see,

But

soft,

fair rose wither.

but see

Richard the Second,

v., I.

Fair ladies masked are roses in their bud ;

Dismasked,

Are angels

their

damask sweet commixture shown,

veiling clouds, or roses blown.

Love's Labour's Lost,

Sweet

v., 2.

untimely pluck'd, soon vaded, Pluck'd in the bud, and vaded in the spring. rose, fair flower,

The Passionate Pilgrim.

When Hamlet

addresses Ophelia as

rose of

he does not mean the rather

the

early

May

summer

of the calendar, intending

of woman's

life,

when

cheeks, as well as her hopes, are clad in roseate. that

all

her

Would

our young ladies would receive the truth that

rose-colour

only oxygen in another shape, and that

J The Lily. cheeks get

When,

Hamlet

With two the reference

out of doors.

says,

Provincial roses

not at

razed shoes

to the flower per

all

(Hi., 2),

se.

means

ornaments made of ribbon, very fashionable in

rose-like

and

the Elizabethan times,

Midsummer

same when he remarks, flowered"

(ii.,

4),

referred to also

Night's Dream,

Romeo

ribbons to your pumps."

"Why

or punched with

iv.,

perhaps intends the

then

some

the ever welcome

floral

its

evening,

delightful is

the fans*.

my pump

The

pattern.

exclusively

its

to stand erect with-

and

kindly neighbours,

(Midsummer

musk-rose, Africa,

musky odour most decidedly

associated

well-

may be

from northern

species

assistance its

being elegantly pinked

long and rambling shoots too weak

out the

by Bottom,

"Get new

though here the reference

imitation pinks, or perhaps to

exhales

best where the flowers

again,

in the

159

which in the

with Titania

Night's Dream,

ii.,

and

ii.,

iv., i.)

THE While the idea of the

been of something but

the

poetical

oleander

rich

rose,

earliest times,

has

lily

red, covering not only itself, the pomegranate flower the

has been one of whiteness,

whiteness of a shining and

would be called

from the

and

idea of the

LILY.

dazzling kind,

or such as

a whiteness very different from that of milk, and giving the flower a peculiar fitness for lustrous,

L 1

The Shakspere Flora.

The

use as an emblem. tion,

ancients, because of this associa-

Homer

gave the word various delightful uses.

puts "lily-voiced" for sweet and pretty sounds, such as

the

of the

chirp

primsevally,

cicala

name

(Iliad,

xiii.,

Though,

880).

of very various application,

the

was most probably that excellent species called by botanists the Lilium lily

par

excellence

of the ancients

"common

candidum, the

white lily" of the vernacular.

Indigenous to the southern parts of Europe, from Corsica to Greece and Turkey, it could not fail to be known to all

who

noticed flowers.

The

erect

and

leafy stems, a

yard high, the noble and well-balanced terminal cluster of five or six pearly white and fragrant bells, the spotless petals curving outwards,

the swinging golden anthers,

and emerald stigma, would arrest the attention of the most incurious. This one, at all events, it was which pious emotion gave to the Virgin, whence the still-current appellations of

Madonna

lily

and Annunciation

lily,

not

mention the thousand beautiful examples met with in sacred and legendary art. Shakspere's lily was unquesHe mentions it upon over twenty tionably the same. to

distinct occasions,

sometimes objectively, more frequently

in metaphor, or with a view to comparison, though not

always in reference to the lovely.

My brother

sweetest, fairest lily

wears thee not one half so well

As when thou grewest

Now

Th.us,

thyself.

Cymbeline,

iv., 2.

maiden honour, yet as pure LovJs Labour's Lost, lily.

the unsullied

v., 2.

The Lily. In Kin% Henry the Eighth the

161

lily is

used,

and

beautiful manner, to represent the life-long

Queen

She

Elizabeth.

in the

most

maidenhood

a babe at the christening

Cranmer's benedictions remind one of the blessings bestowed by the patriarchs of ancient Palestine, the last,

font.

and crown of

as should be, the flower

all

days shall see her, And yet no day without a deed to crown it. But she must Would I had known no more

Many

die,

(She must, the saints must have her), yet a virgin; A most unspotted lily shall she pass

the ground, and all the world shall

In Troilus and Cressida,

iii.,

asphodel above mentioned

"lily"

give

Where

Proposed

In an

Charon,

me swift transportance to those may wallow in the lily beds

King Henry

Testament of the

"lilies

divine preacher,

first

grass of the field," then as

oven

fields,

for the deserver.

earlier scene of

by the

(v., 4.)

put for Homer's

the Eighth there

incomparably touching allusion to the

New

her.

O, be thou

And

mourn

of the

imagery in the field,"

described

as the produce of " the

to-morrow cast into the

QUEEN KATHARINE: no

Shipwreck'd upon a kingdom, where

pity,

No friends, no hope no kindred weep for me ; Almost no grave allow'd me like the lily, That once was mistress of the field, and flourished, I'll hang my head, and perish. (iii., I.) ;

The

"lilies" of the

New

Testament,

well

known,

The Shakspere Flora.

word having been commonly

are flowers in general, the

thus used in ancient times, or in the broad and general

sense of avOog and poet, represents in

the

"Rose"

Moschus, the ancient

flos.

Europa

gathering

Sicilian

"fragrant

lilies"

meads, plainly intending flowers in general.* was often applied in the same way, a very

picturesque example occurring in Pindar, f

one occasion "lily"

used facetiously, being

introduced in the laughable mock-pathetic burlesque of Pyramus and Thisbe, performed at the end of the

Midsummer

Night's

Dream

Asleep,

love ?

dove ?

What, dead, O, Pyramus,

arise,

Quite

Speak, speak.

dumb ?

Dead, dead, a tomb

Must cover thy sweet These

lily

eyes.

brows,

This cherry nose,

These yellow cowslip cheeks, Are gone, are gone !

Lovers,

make moan

His eyes were green

as leeks.

sisters three,

Come, come,

Personal beauty being always heightened by darkness of " " well match the cherry nose, lily brows

the eyebrows,

the green eyes,

and

ludicrous combination

the it is

* Idyll,

ii.,

32.

cowslip

cheeks.

impossible to imagine.

flsth.,

iii.,

36.

The Flower-de-luce.

163

THE FLOWER-DE-LUCE. The

flower-de-luce

one of those desired by Perdita

Bold

oxlips,

and

The crown-imperial; lilies of The flower-de-luce being one. To make you garlands of.

In Chaucer the

fleur-de-lis,

all

kinds,

these I lack,

we now

call

was the

it,

Lilium candidum, just described: His nekke was whit as

But

in the

the flour de

lys.

Shaksperean age, and long before, the

name

was very evidently applied also to various species of Iris that extensive and charming genus, represented abundantly in Europe, the members of which are distinguished from

all

other liliaceous plants by their

three great outer pendulous petals, familiarly termed the "falls;"

large,

stigmas; and colours,

and very handsome

whence the name,

bow-flower." in

erect,

the rich and endless

English

Many gardens

be acquainted

also

diversity

petaloid of

their

to translate literally, of "rain-

of the exotic species were cultivated in

Shakspere's time;

with

that

strikingly

would

handsome

water-side wild-flower, the yellow water-flag, Iris pseudaconis,

found

everywhere

upon

the

continent,

and

reasonably supposed to have furnished the fleur-de-lis of the French heraldic shield.

What

particular flower

he was thinking of when he wrote "flower-de-luce" there He could scarcely have still is no evidence to show. intended the Lilium candidum, since this does not

come

The Shakspere Flora.

164 bloom

into

the oxlips are

till

all

enough, however, that the golden insignia of France, applying the

the Fifth,

v.,

upon

"my

princess

in graceful

He knew

gone.

name

metaphor,

King Henry

the French

flower-de-luce;" and using

fair

well

one belonged to the

three occasions, heraldically, in

also

the

King Henry

Sixth: Cropp'd are the flower-de-luces in your arms, Part coat one half is cast away.

Of England's I

prepared

Deck'd with

;

here

A sceptre

will I have,

I'll

which

keen-edged sword, on each side.

five flower-de-luces

have

Of England's for the

Plantagenet

v.,

toss the flower-de-luce of France.

coat one half

cast

away

the beautiful shield of arms established by

Third

i.,

Ibid,

a soul,

Part 2nd,

ist, i.,

refers

Edward

the

English monarchy, by combining the three with the lilies of France, thereby

lions

asserting sovereignty over the latter country, as expressed also in the royal

title

"One

England."

then assumed, "King of France and

half" of the coat being "cast away"

signified, heraldically, loss

France.

Few

or forfeiture of dominion in

circumstances in history are more curious

of their kind than the retention of the fleur-de-lis in the

and thus upon the gold and silver coinage of Great Britain, up to the year 1801, or for two hundred

shield,

and is

forty-three years after the loss of Calais.

spelt also, in old authors

delice"

and

fleur-de-lys.

and

The name

in early editions, "floure

The Crown Imperial.

165

THE CROWN IMPERIAL. Nature produces few plants more remarkable than the

The succulent crown imperial, Fritillaria imperialis. stem, two feet high, rises out of a tuft of narrow leaves and terminates

in a similar tuft, though bare intermeImmediately below the latter there is a ring of large tulip-like flowers, of a rich golden yellow, andpendulous. Looking into the flower, as into a bell, at diately.

the base of every petal there

when

nectary, from which,

seen a white and concave

the

bloom

in perfection,

depends a drop of honey. At the first glance it seems to possess six great round eyes carved out of pearl. A native

of Persia,

royal garden at

was

originally introduced into

Vienna about

1576,

and

the

shortly

Shakspere would see

afterwards arrived in England. in all likelihood, in

A.D.

it,

some choice London garden.

THE MARIGOLD. The use,

Calendula

marigold,

Shakspere upon still

Perdita's

The

is,

its

mentioned

by most engaging

The marigold

And

offidnalis,

five occasions,

that goes to

with him

rises,

flower she intends

tant of the garden

celebrated alike for

bed with the sun,

weeping.

the well

(iv., 3.)

known

ancient inhabi-

from southern Europe, economic service, and for the

originally its

extreme sensitiveness of the flowers

the

solar

ray.

The Shakspere Flora.

The ago.

last-named feature was noticed two thousand years It

was into the calendula, it would seem, though is somewhat loose, that love-sick Clytie

the description

was transformed: Ilia

suum, quamvis radice tenetur,

Vertitur ad

Solem

;

mutataque servat amorem. by a root, still turns toward her

(She, though held fast

beloved Sun, and though changed in shape, forgets not Met. iv., 269-270.)

to be faithful.

In the calendula,

also,

in Latin solsequium,

French

we have whence,

the original heliotropion,

with lapse of time,

Sunflower and turnsole, though

souci.

apply the former

name

the

we now

an American plant with disk

and rays of sunlike splendour, were, in the

first

instance,

The literature it would appear, appellations of the same. with allusions to it. "The abounds of the middle ages marygolde,"

says

"hath

Lyte,

pleasant,

bright,

and

shining yellow floures, the which do close at the setting

downe of

the sunne, and

do spread and open againe

the sunne rising" (Book II., chap, xiii., p. 163). "Some," " call it sponsa soils, the Spowse of the

continues Lupton,

Sunne, because

In Prime's

sleepes

and

awakened with him."

Consolations of David,

applied to

sermon preached it true that 1588, we have "David found have been heretofore at any time, and fesseth that for the time to come he Elizabeth, in a

at Oxford,

Queen November 1 7, he should not

therefore pro-

would be no

with the sun, and shut marigold servant of God, to open In writing the lines above quoted from with the dewe."

The Marigold. the

Winters Tale

the

upon

often omitted, after

167

important to insert the comma, the stress

rises," so that

"weeping"

Clytie's

which give perfection to the

the

tears

may

fall

dew-drops

picture.

The

English appellation of this famous old flower is its own by birthright, nor has of " Mary." If not the do with the name to anything

not, rather singular to say, it

literal

translation,

the etymological representative

and counterpart of the old Greek name of the flower to-day

by pleonasm, the

called,

helichryson,

Theocritus,

golden-flower-of-the-marshes. ferred from the

"marsh-marigold" 78,

ii.,

How

literally

came

the trans-

Caltha palustris to the calendula does

not appear.

The

other Shaksperean allusions occur in Sonnet xxv. Great princes' favourites their

But as the marigolds

fair

leaves spread

at the sun's eye.

In the Rape of Lucrece, Her

eyes, like marigolds,

had sheathed

their light,

And

canopied in darkness sweetly lay, Till they might open to adorn the day.

In Pericles;

iv.,

The

i.,

purple violets and marigolds

Shall, as a chaplet,

hang upon thy grave, While summer days do last.

And

with slight variation of the name, in Cymbeline,

And winking marybuds begin To ope their golden eyes.

ii.,

The Shakspere Flora.

THE CARNATION AND THE GILLIFLOWER. These two, yet again, are The

Perdita's

own

fairest flowers o' the

season

Are our carnations, and streaked gilliflowers, Which some call nature's bastards of that kind Our rustic garden's barren, and I care not ;

get slips of them.

Over the carnation there

no doubt.

Introduced from

the continent, probably in the time of the Normans,

took at once the place of honour in English gardens never since challenged. All the old poets have something to say in

its

praise,

now and

derivation of the name, which

form

of "coronation"

then indicating the

simply a condensed

a flower adapted

for

use

and which has never been given to anything else. "Gilliflower," often supposed to be the same, had a much chaplets,

In Lyte, 1576, it covers the carnation, wider meaning. the pink, the sweet-william, the marsh-lychnis, the soapwort, and a couple of silenes, all members of the same botanical family;

also

various

crucifers, including the

two Matthiolas, the dentaria, and the wallflower; and, besides these, the Hottonia and the Tagetes " " was nevertheless, gilliflower Essentially, patula. hesperis, the

understood to mean certain varieties of the Dianthus Caryophyllus (the typical form of which

shown

the carnation

by the derivation supplied by ipsissima), " caryophyllus," the latter word referring to the clove-like as

The Carnation.

169

odour again of the carnation ipsissima.* The varieties were doubtless those which to-day are called

in question bizarres,

and which the

florists

of the Elizabethan age

thought to multiply by means of the odd and futile process described in that curious old black-letter volume, Hyll's

Art of Gardening, 1574, p. 88. Perdita, whose we have seen above, is distinguished by its

character, as

love of truthfulness,

She

things.

will

have none of these

horticultural

artificial

experimentalist:

she

God made

In her them. " innocent ignorance she thinks that all the " pied gillies have been obtained by the artificial process she detests. takes

the flowers just as

She admits that as companions of the carnation, they count with the "fairest flowers

the season," but to give

them a personal welcome she declines Of Our

that kind

and

care not

get slips of them.

The

rustic garden's barren,

I'll not put dibble in earth to set one slip of them

more than were

would wish This youth should say 'twere well ; and only therefore Desire to breed by me.

botanical

name

I painted, I

ever experienced so

many

mutations.

the literature of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

may be found

gyroflee, giroflee, gilofer, gillofer, galofer, gylofre, girofle, gelofer, gyllofer, gelouer, floure,

gelliflower,

spellings,

gillyvor,

gelyfloure,

gilloflower,

gilyfloure, gilofloure, gillo-

no fewer than seventeen

and probably others not observed.

different

The Shakspere Flora.

170

How

modestly she disclaims personal acquaintance with

the process

POLIXENES

Wherefore, gentle maiden,

PERDITA

you neglect them ? For I have heard it said There is an art which, in

With Polixenes

their piedness, shares

great creating nature.

knew nothing of "cross fertiligiven to modern a complexion so new and grand though in

Shakspere

sation," the

horticulture

practice

of which has

a measure foreseen and here foretold by him, as well as by Bacon. So much the more remarkable, accordingly, becomes the reply :

Say, there be ; Yet nature is made better by no mean, But nature makes that mean ; so, o'er that

Which, you say, adds That nature makes.

to nature, is

This

Which does mend nature The art itself is nature.

The

art

change

rather, but

discourse between these two, Perdita and Polixenes,

illustrates

over again that other admirable characteristic

the disclosure that he knows everything, without ever advertising his knowledge. The " for,"

of Shakspere

before

"I have heard

Another name,

in the

said,"

means "because."

middle ages,

for the carnation,

was " sops-in-wine," or simply " sops," given because the flowers were supposed to impart flavour, especially

The Carnation.

171

to the sweet wine presented to brides after the

Hence, in the Taming of the Shrew,

ceremony.

QuafTd

And

off the

threw the sops

of courtesy," or courtesy in perfection.

courtesy, here, perhaps,

Romeo

playing

generally

Juliet,

ii.,

" the very pink In the follow-

styles himself

ing scene Nurse says that

the sexton's face.

be referred to in Romeo and

supposed when Mercutio figuratively

iii.,

muscadel,

of Dianthus, the pink,

smaller kind to

all in

wedding

not the flower of

upon the name of the

crimson amaranth to-day called the prince's " in feather, floure-gentle." Shakspere's time the beautiful

"Coronation,"

"garland-flower," the original

literally

form, as above said, of "carnation," serves as the key-note to

some other very

The

interesting words.

diminutive

of the Latin corona, upon which it rests, is corolla, " a little crown," very elegantly applied, in literally botanical language, to the

aggregate of the petals of a

flower, which, although often insignificant

symmetry, in very

many

cases

suggested the application of the

and without

those,

no doubt, which

name

may

quite fairly

be said to be disposed chaplet-wise around the portions.

The employment, by

interior

the ancients, of crowns

and chaplets wrought of leaves and flowers, especially for bestowal in testimony of honour and approval, was very extensive, literature.

naturally

and has innumerable

illustrations in classical

Chaplets thus given were

upon what had preceded,

ensuing honours must

things

The Shakspere Flora,

172 needs, little

when

especially

garland/'

Corollarium,

symbolical.

thence came

denote,

natural result or sequence of any other kind;

something supplementary or additional. ingly, in the Tempest, iv.,

Prospero

frequently, a

and thence

When, accord-

says,

Now

come, my Ariel, bring a corollary, Rather than want a spirit,

he means rather than be

deficient, bring a surplus.

THE COLUMBINE. The columbine,

Aquilegia

milgaris,

though a plant

wild in England, was probably, like the sweet-briar, best

known

to Shakspere as a cultivated garden-flower.

appears,

slightly,

with

metaphorical

purpose,

the

pageant which ends Love's Labour's Lost; and again in Hamlet, here in reference to some emblematic or superstitious idea the traces of

which are obscured.

fennel for you and columbines."

There's

Ophelia employs

it,

seemingly, as a representative of thanklessness, since in

Chapman we have What's

Why

"thankless"

a columbine ? grows not in my garden.

that,

that thankless flower

a question

still

be answered.

Turner speaks only of the supposed medicinal Matthiolus and Gerard do no more.

One cannot

part

from Shakspere's

recalling what he has told us of the

flowers

little

virtues,

without

wizards of the

Bees.

Under Providence, he

hive.

in the world for everybody,

says, there is special

and the

of the whole, duly performed,

work

concurrence

faithful

like music."

Therefore doth heaven divide

The

man

state of

in divers functions,

Setting endeavour in continual motion, To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,

Obedience.

So work the honey-bees, Creatures that, by rule in nature, teach The act of order to a peopled kingdom.

They have a king, and officers of sorts Where some, like magistrates, correct at home ;

;

Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad ; Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds ;

Which

pillage they, with

merry march, bring home

To the tent- royal of their emperor, Who, busied in his majesty, surveys The singing masons building roofs of gold ; The civil citizens kneading up the honey; The poor mechanic porters crowding in Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate ; sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,

The

Delivering o'er to executors pale King lazy, yawning drone.

The

As an account bees, this saying,

of the domestic

Bee-life, in the

inexact.

The main

put,

and

it is

for the reader

who knows

mentally as he reads.

to correct

other allusions to bees and honey, in thirty.

the honey-

Shaksperean age, had

idea, however,

many

not fewer than

i.,

hardly needs the

truth

the Fifth,

economy of

most beautiful description,

not been studied.

Henry

In All's Well,

faithfully

the particular

There are all,

probably,

for instance,

The Shakspere Flora.

174

This he wished, Since I nor wax, nor honey, can bring home, I quickly

Some

give

were dissolved from

some labourers room.

hive,

(i.,

2.)

of them are very beautifully figurative

O my love, my Death

wife

that hath suck'd the

honey of thy breath, Upon thy beauty yet hath had no power.

Thou

art not conquer'd ; beauty's ensign yet crimson in thy lips, and in thy cheeks, And death's pale^flag is not advanced there. Is

Romeo and Juliet,

v.,

CULTIVATED FRUITS, ESCULENT VEGETABLES, AND MEDICINAL HERBS. Think'st thou Still to

honourable for a noble

remember wrongs?

The

rarer action

In virtue than in vengeance.

HE to

interest of the

medicinal the

and

Shaksperean references

and vegetables of

to the herbs

purposes,

information

Tempest, v.,

the garden fruits

his period,

man

Coriolanus, v., 3.

consists

they afford

grown chiefly

for

the

horticulture of the Elizabethan age,

and the value then

attached to

The

simple

herb-physic.

circumstances

amid which these references occur are seldom

They

poetical.

from the beautiful surroundings of Sometimes they are distinctly unpleasing;

differ altogether

the flowers.

and the characters with

whom

they are identified are

The Shakspere Flora.

176

often of third-rate position in pleteness' sake,

various allusions, bearing in mind, at the

many

of them

For com-

drama.

the

of course proper to recognise these

it is

same

time, that

quite possibly not be Shakspere's own,

may

but the unfair interpolations of actors or transcribers.

The

These

associations are usually quite lateral.

and so

forth

seem

of their merits,

fruits

be introduced, not so much because to

the jocularity

illustrate

of the

speaker, or to serve as the basis of a entendre.

Shakspere wrote his plays,

pun or a double no doubt, with a

view to their being performed before audiences to whom amusement and broad farce were more welcome than poetry and philosophy. material for fun, entitled,

and

He knew this

must supply

that he

he did supremely.

nevertheless, to the full

benefit

of the doubt

whether the vulgarities and the impurities may not have

been inserted by other hands. own, as already

manuscripts of his

said, are in existence.

Between the

time of the original writing of the dramas and the first printing there was plenty of opportunity for desecration,

and the desecration would be carried players

who found

their interest

still

further

interpolate

" bring down the house," these expressions adapted to getting by degrees into the successive manuscript copies.

Pope pointed

out,

more than one hundred and

sixty

years ago (his edition of Shakspere having been published in 1721), that the Romeo and Juliet of the famous "first folio" in

the

first

collective

edition

of the plays, issued

1623 by the two players Heminges and Condell

Quibbles in Shakspere.

many mean

contains there

no hint

and

conceits

177

ribaldries of

not be supposed for a

moment

which It can-

in the early single-play editions.

that these were inserted

by Shakspere as after-thoughts. Surely their introduction must have been after the manner indicated.

That Shakspere had no

real

and personal love

for

low

quibbles and other such vulgarities, he himself plainly

shows us as in

in the

Merchant of

other places, his

many

an atom of ostentation.

Venice,

own

iii.,

illustrating,

private ideas, without

Launcelot, old Shylock's coarse

and ignorant serving-man, talks rudely to Jessica. While they are conversing, he is interrupted by the entrance of Lorenzo, who, if not one of the foremost of the Shaksperean characters,

distinguished

reverence, his good common-sense,

least

and other

for

his

qualities

It is to Lorenzo that at a more of the gentleman. pleasing time we owe the sublimest burst of reverent

poetry in the whole of Shakspere

How

sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music

Creep

in our ears.

Soft stillness

and the night,

Become

the touches of sweet harmony. Sit, Jessica. Look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines* of bright gold !

*"Patines, small golden dishes employed in the ritual of the " The stars bear no resemblance to these. Surely,

Catholic Church.

as proposed, the better word beautiful geometrical sketches

would be patterns i.e., designs or and methods of arrangement, as set

forth in the constellations, Orion, in its season, Cassiopeia, sleepless Seven, with all the rest of the host of heaven,

sweet influence."

and the

"shedding

The Shakspere Flora.

178

There's not the smallest orb that thou beholdest

But

motion like an angel sings, quiring to the young-eyed cherubim

in his

Still

Such harmony is in immortal souls But whilst this muddy vesture of decay ;

Doth

grossly close us in,

we cannot

Those wonderful words, also, a

The man that hath no music in Nor is not moved with concord Is

for treasons, stratagems,

fit

The motions

And his

One cannot be thus,

spoils.

trusted.

much

and

quibbling talk, the

his

from Shakspere's own heart

that the

Moor

she be less than an honest

than I took her

LORENZO

and

other than predisposed in his favour,

comment, never doubt, LAUNCELOT

himself,

of sweet sounds,

dark as Erebus ;

man be

when Launcelot resumes

reason ; but

it.

of his spirit are dull as night,

affections

Let no such

hear

little later

should be more than

woman, she

indeed more

for.

How every

fool can play

I think the upon the word and discourse grow !

best grace of wit will shortly turn into silence, commendable in none only but parrots. Still,

the

like all

other quibblers, Launcelot

rebuke.

catches

Lorenzo, who, when the

silly

heedless of

every phrase used

fellow

makes

his exit, says

to himself,

The

fool hath planted in his

memory,

And I do know of good words. fools, that stand in better place,

An army

A many

Garnish'd like him, that for a tricksy word

Defy the matter.

The same

spirit

of private and personal contempt for

all

Offensive Passages. that in

low, vulgar, sham,

and contemptible,

Hamlet's advice to the players in truthfulness to his

Shaksperean

utterances

the offensive

set forth

incomparably more nature than all

own

Refusing him

put together.

the benefit of the doubt; conceding that he was himself the author of the it

may

all

un-Shaksperean lines and passages ; be considered probable that,

events

had he revised with the pen, he would have expunged very

much when

thinking

have so modified various

posterity,

expressions,

least

enable

Shakspere pure and simple, instead of feeling that the volume in our hands is Shakspere plus appendages not of his own heart, but attached in order to tickle a public whose chief wish was to be us to

to-day

rejoice

made

laugh.

Whatever may be the true history of these vulgarities and impurities, in looking at passages of any kind in Shakspere that offend, let us never be too severe. The pure and measure. in his

passing daily

outweighs the contrary beyond should so accustom ourselves to rejoice

beautiful

wisdom and grace it

life.

over just as If

care

forget

the uncomely,

ignore the disagreeables of

a true

for

department of work, this

artist,

whatever his

the true way, not only to

honour, but to enable ourselves to appreciate him, just as in contemplating the works of God, the charm consists in

habituating one's-self to companionship with what

is loveliest

them and most

sincerely interested in beauty

glorious.

and the

People who are pure, do not look

The Shakspere Flora.

180 and

for blots

The

things constitutionally quite sure that to

They have enough

deficiences.

their time without.

we have

good and noble, before we are realised all the worth,

be regarded with special

terror.

disastrous to one's

must

needs

interest in the defective,

its

become

aptitudes

that

degenerate

a malady

disorder can be the

mind

exact

ratio

since

intelligence,

either nourishing or healthful. is

to occupy

disposition to hunt for flaws in

the last

can never be

The most

unenviable of

which

to look for

one which leads people

blemishes in things better than themselves.

The garden

fruits

very ordinary kinds,

named by Shakspere are all of the and such as had been in cultivation cases, probably, since the time

in this country, in

most

of the Romans, to

whom,

in all likelihood, the original

introduction of the exotic sorts was owing.

That the

apple, the pear, the cherry, the plum, and the medlar, exist in England, in the wild condition, is no doubt true; but that the eatable varieties cherished in orchards and

in gardens in the Shaksperean age had been developed be would be can island own our supposed they hardly :

descendants of imported period,

mulberry,

the the

Plantagenet. quince,

peach, the apricot, the

first

trees,

perhaps of the

The

the walnut,

grape,

the

Norman fig,

chestnut,

the

hardly needs the saying, were in

instance chiefly of oriental origin,

wards with wheat and other features of Shakspere turns to the

fruit-trees for

most beautiful pictures of the

moving west-

civilisation.

two or three of

vicissitudes of

human

life

his :

Fruit-trees.

Then was

Whose boughs

A storm,

robbery, call

Shook down

And So of

left

my mellow

fruit

;

what you

will,

hangings, nay,

bare to wither.

I as a tree

but in one night

Cymbeline,

leaves,

iii.,

most profoundly, not to say sacredly pathetic

in that all his

did bend with

scenes, the story of the downfall of Cardinal

Wolsey: So farewell

good you bear me.

to the little

Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness This is the state of man. To-day he puts forth !

The

And

tender leaves of hope ; to-morrow blossoms, bears his blushing honours thick upon him.

The

third day comes a frost, a killing frost, And, when he thinks, good easy man, full His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,

And

then he

falls,

surely,

as I do. I

have ventured,

wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory, But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride At length broke under me, and now has left me, Weary, and old with service, to the mercy Like

little

Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me. Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye. I feel my heart new-open'd. O how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favours There is, betwixt the smile we would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin, More pangs and fears than wars and women have ; And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, !

Never "

hope again.

Blushing honours

by the incomparable since

all

the Eighth,

Henry

would seem

May

iii. ,

have been suggested

roseate

of the apple-trees,

other standard fruit-bearers which have petaled

The Shakspere Flora.

are altogether snowy, and reddening fruit never liable to be thrown down by frost. Surely, too, flowers,

would be the

is it

and the pears alongside, which

apple-trees,

suggested the pleasant comparison of the

first

sweet

shoots of love to opening buds or sprouts, these being

what are intended by the Shaksperean "springs" in Venus and Adonis, no, This canker that eats up love's tender spring ;

in the

Rape of

Lucrece,

Unruly

and

in the

blasts wait

on thy tender spring;

Comedy of Errors,

Even

iii.,

in the spring of love, thy love-springs rot.

The same may be

the intent, perhaps, of the phrase in

the charming lines, quoted on page 21, from the

summer Nighfs Dream, And

n., 2

Mid-

never, since the middle summer's spring, or mead,

Met we on hill, in dale, forest, Or on the beached margent of

the sea,

To dance

our ringlets to the whistling wind, But with thy brawls thou hast disturbed our sport.

Titania

upbraiding Oberon and complaining of his

That they have been married for many years may safely be assumed. The present quarrel, a "very pretty" one, is certainly not the first in which the royal revels.

couple have been engaged. " middle summer's

the

period when

From "

spring

love between

this

point of view

may perhaps

refer to

them was more abounding,

and there were fewer of the "forgeries of jealousy." There are difficulties, however, in the way of thus under-

The Apple. standing the phrase such as do not interfere with the "Orchard," we must interpretation given above.

remember

also,

Shaksperean times, was often

the

equivalent to "garden," as in

The

and

Much

Ado,

ii.,

orchard- walls are high and hard to climb;

Romeo and Juliet,

ran this way, and leaped this orchard wall.

The APPLE

itself,

(ii.,

holds quite a subordinate place

always been so fond,

about a dozen

in regard to prettiness of the allusions

most of them being allied to the altogether, and scarcely one distinctly elegant. Usually

named Love's

Labours

Henry

the Fourth,

Wives, ii.,

i.,

v.,

the "costard," a large

ignorant head, as in Lear,

for

metaphor and elsewhere; and the fruit

ii.,

v.,

4).

of good flavour,

two years, but naturally during

good became very shrunken, so comparison was well based, and his

Night,

the Fourth,

Henry More pleasing

iii.,

that old FalstafTs dislike of 3;

apple

Than

quite the

allusions occur in Twelfth

two is not more twin two creatures;

cleft in

these

2nd Henry

variety that

a vulgar and

iv., 6,

that time

Fourth,

Merry Romeo and Juliet,

and coarse

"apple-John," a

that kept

intelligible (ist

"pippin," in the

the

served as a contemptuous

and

the "bitter-sweeting," in

John-apple,

jocular,

" " in cited, as the pomewater, " 2nd in the leathercoat," Lost, iv., 2;

variety that

I.)

of which literature of every kind has

The Shakspere Flora.

184 and

the

Tempest,

How

think he will carry the

his son for

an apple."

doth thy beauty grow, answer not thy show,

obviously to the conventional use of the

apple in Scriptural interpretations, to

bidden

fruit" of the

The PEAR

When,

like love's apple

If thy sweet virtue

the reference

ii.,

home, and give it Sonnet xciii., we have

island

denote the "for-

Garden of Eden.

furnishes Falstaff with a simile not unlike

the previous one (Merry

Wives,

iv.,

5),

and which

almost echoed by Parolles (AWs Well, i., i). Mercutio's " " is rendered graceless allusion to the Popering pear association of this the interesting by variety with the village near Calais, of

which Leland, the famous

anti-

quary, was some time rector, and from which it was named. When in the Winter's Tale, iv., 2, we read of

"warden

pies," the

reference

golden yellow when

variety,

again

to a particular

quite ripe, famous for

its

A.S. wearden, long-retained goodness, whence the name to preserve and greatly esteemed, not for what we call "

to-day, but for the analogues of apple-dumplings.

pies

The QUINCE is mentioned in Romeo and Juliet, iv., 4, when Lady Capulet is giving orders for the wedding-feast, They

call for dates

the "pastry"

made, as

in the pastry,

"paste" was

in Nicholas Brereton, 1582,

Now having seene The

and quinces

being the place in which

all this,

pastrie, meale-house,

doly.

then you shall see, hard by, and the roome whereas the coales

The Quince.

185

The fame

of the quince reaches back to the remotest

antiquity.

There can be no doubt

in the tappuach of the

Hebrews

"apple"), and that

that

was included

(in the A.V. rendered

immediately intended by the In Theocritus this

Greek prj\ov and the Latin malum.

downy and

fruit

fragrant

a very

supplies

celebrated

metaphor, which no doubt well pleased Boccaccio, and

Ben Jonson, who calls it the melicoton. famous myth of the golden apples of For the same reason, when Hero became Hesperides.

imitated by

appears in the

the

the wife of Zeus, the divinities presented her with appropriate bridal gifts,

tree

Gaia,

the earth personified, providing

There

which bore "golden apples."

here to

into the significance minutely.

no occasion

Shakspere

no stranger to it, and to have had the Romeo and Juliet passage, which is

thought to have 'been it

view in

esteem in which the

possible, but not likely, since the fruit

was held in his age,

or " cotiniac,"

duction of

Miss

it.

for the

quite enough

Wood

as to the regard in which insatiable

Anne

Henry

making of marmalade,

to account for the intro-

an amusing anecdote was held by fickle and In 1539, the new queen,

relates it

the Eighth.

of Cieves, desired to engage a maid-of-honour.

Lady Lisle, seeking to propitiate his majesty in favour of her daughter Katharine, sent him a present of damsonWhether cheese, and some of this identical cotiniac. the object was attained or not,

are

the royal

left

in doubt.

acceptable, however, epicure were Lady Lisle's sweetmeats, that Anne Bassett, by whose hand to

The Shakspere Flora.

they had been conveyed, writes off-hand, "The king doth so like the conserves you sent him, that his grace

commandeth me

to send to

you

for

more, and

this as

soon as may be."

The MEDLAR. inviting

no doubt, because of

Partly,

appearance when

softened

sufficiently

its

un-

because of the very has never held a high peculiar astringency, the medlar place among the orchard fruits; and almost invariably, passed

the

across

when mentioned if

lips

partly

;

in literature, the associations are ignoble,

not offensive.

Apemantus

cites

Timon of Athens,

playing jocularly upon the sound of the name,

TIMON APEMANTUS TIMON APEMANTUS

There's a medlar for thee, eat On what I bite, I feed not.

it.

Dost hate a medlar ? look like thee.

Ay, though

And

had'st hated meddlers sooner,

thou

should'st have loved thyself better

thou

now. (iv., 3-)

Lucio also mentions

it,

Measure for Measure,

iv.,

and Mercutio, whose gay laugh " rings down the street," Rosalind comes just in time in Romeo and Juliet, ii., i. to atone for the latter, bantering old Touchstone,

again

with

play

upon

and

the double sense of the word,

though we must be careful not to mistake her intent in calling the medlar the "earliest fruit of the season."

She does not mean that the bough, but the

it is

first

the

first

be gathered from

of the hard ones collected for

winter store which after gathering becomes soft enough to eat.

The Plum. The PLUM.

The

187

allusions to the plum, like those to

the medlar, both in Shakspere and in literature generally, are,

one with another, upon a very low

events,

they

tastes.

The

make tree

little

mentioned

and

the Passionate Pilgrim,

2nd Henry

appeal

the Sixth,

ii.,

at all

level;

one's

intellectual

Venus and Adonis, in the

scene in

farcical

where also the

fruit is

named. "I

The

fruit

will

dance and eat plums at your wedding." Many have been in cultivation from very early times.

appears again in the Merry

Wives,

v., 5,

varieties

The Henry

the Sixth

passage includes notice of the

damson, or damascene, attributed to the gardens of ancient Damascus. Prunes, the dried produce of a sort

grown

chiefly in France, are

mentioned upon no fewer

but never once invitingly. Happily, there is once again a set-off, though the scene in which it occurs is one of those which make the heart beat with

than

five occasions,

mingled sympathy and indignation. the deceived, the friendless,

lies at

tongued Elinor, little Arthur, "my only too sadly, what it all means

Poor Constance, the mercy of bitterfair

son," guessing,

Who

ELINOR:

CONSTANCE ELINOR

CONSTANCE

is it

thou dost

France

call usurper,

me make answer thy usurping son. Out, insolent Thy bastard shall be king; Let

That thou may'st be a queen, and check the world My bed was ever to thy son as true, As thine was to thy husband ; and this boy Liker in feature to his father Geoffrey,

Than thou and John in manners being As rain to water, or devil to his dam. ;

boy a bastard

By my

as like

soul I think,

The Shakspere Flora.

His father never was so true begot ; It cannot be, an if thou wert his mother.

ELINOR CONSTANCE :

There's a good mother, boy, that blots thy father ? There's a good grandam, boy, that would blot thee!

ELINOR Come to thy grandam, child CONSTANCE Do, child. Go to it grandam, :

child

Give grandam kingdom, and it grandam will Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig :

There's a good grandam

One can

see the quivering

coursing fast

down

the infinite, yet

still

King John,

the red

lids,

ii.,

the hot tears

the pallid cheeks.

By-and-by comes

most queenly

Arthur, as

know, perishes cruelly

"more

lips,

* !

grief.

all

image," says Mrs. Jameson,

more wonderfully sublime, was never

majestic,

presented to the fancy I will instruct

sorrows to be proud ;

proud, and makes his owner stout. To me, and to the state of my great grief Let kings assemble ; for my grief's so great

For

grief

That no supporter but the huge firm earth Can hold it up. Here I and sorrow sit ; Here is my throne bid kings come bow to it. Throws herself on the ground.

Not

(iii.,

i.)

" do only," continues that accomplished authoress,

her thoughts

start

into

her

images;

feelings

become

persons; grief haunts her as a living presence: *

Observe, in the above passage, the very interesting old-fashioned

employment of it where now we say wrote, was but slowly coming into sperean archaisms, Lancashire dialect;

"Come

to it

last, when Shakspere With many other Shakthis form of the word is still extant in the no phrases are more common than such as

mammy."

its,

which

use.

The Cherry. Grief

fills

the

room up of

189

absent child,

Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me ; Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,

Remembers me

all his

gracious parts,

garments with his form ; reason to be fond of grief. (iii.,

Stuffs out his vacant

Then have

The CHERRY. cherry, introduced

4.)

The Shaksperean references to the by the above in King John, contrast

strongly with those to all the other fruits yet mentioned,

not breathing the genuine How pretty the picture in Venus and spirit of poetry. Adonis, one of the loveliest ever drawn of reciprocity

being in every instance pure,

of goodly service

When

he was by, the birds with pleasure look,

That some would

some other

sing,

in their bills

Would

bring him mulberries and ripe red cherries, fed them with his sight ; they him with berries.

Then comes

the fond

Night's Dream,

comparison in the Midsummer

when Demetrius O,

Thy

fruits

lips,

how

ripe in

Helen

more apt

to conjoin.

show,

those kissing cherries, tempting grow!

are individually

cherries, or

talks of

(iii.,

2.)

one another than

Hence

Henry

the

Eighth,^, i: 'Tis as like you,

and

the

exquisite

cherry

Midsummer

to cherry ;

Night's Dream,

iii.,

that

by Helena of the mutual love and Hermia in the days of their un-

delineation

between herself

chequered girlhood,

now

sadly marred.

one

The Shakspere Flora. sentiment more than another was specially dear to Shakspere,

was the sanctity of friendship

O, and is all forgot? All schooldays' friendship, childhood innocence?

We, Hermia, like two artificial* gods, Have with our neelds created both one

flower,

Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion, Both warbling of one song, both in one key As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds, ;

been incorporate. So we grew together, to a double cherry, seeming parted, But yet a union in partition ; Two lovely berries moulded on one stem ;

Had

So with two seeming

Two

of the

first,

bodies, but one heart;

like coats in heraldry,

Due but to one, and crowned with one crest. And will you rend our ancient love asunder, To join with men in scorning your poor friend It is

Our

not friendly, 'tis not maidenly ; sex, as well as I, may chide you for

Though

it,

alone do feel the injury.

The

cherry appears also in the description of the accomplishments of Marina, in Pericles: She

sings like one immortal,

and she dances

goddess-like to her admired lays ; Deep clerks she dumbs, and with her neeld composes Nature's own shape, of bud, bird, branch, or berry,

That even her

Her

art sisters the natural roses,

inkle, silk, twin

with the rubied cherry. (Act

The "deep

clerks"

who

failed

v.,

proem.)

in discussion with the

royal Tyrian maid, were, in the Shaksperean sense of the *

"Artificial,"

ingenious.

here curiously used in the sense of skilful or

The Fig.

191

words, learned men, or such as to-day would be termed "scholars,"

meaning of "clerk"

the fine old original

A being in the Elizabethan age still the current one. more interesting word is not to be found in the English language, since

and

Druids,

us back to the time of the

takes

coeval

The

monuments. fold, the

most ancient Celtic

with the

priesthood in those times was three-

second of the three orders, called the Bards,

having for their special

the composition of verses,

office

which they sang to the music of the harp. The harp was called clar; the bard was a clarsair; that which related

Romans,

the

harp was darach.

word was Latinized

this

Bards or harpers were period;

dericus thus

men

Taken up by the into

The

dericus.

of high attainments for their

came

and a "clerk" one who was

signify

mental culture,

better informed than the

people around him.

game with

favourite

the boys of Shakspere's

time

was "cherry-pit," often alluded to in the contemporary literature, and by himself in Twelfth Night, iii. 4.

The

FIG.

Excepting in the King John passage,

and the verses

in the

Midsummer

ii.

Night's Dream, where

Titania gives the injunctions that in performance would be so gratifying, Feed him with apricocks and mulberries, With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries.

Excepting in these two places, the Shaksperean allusions no attractions. From time immemorial,

to the fig have this fruit has

been a metaphor

for the worthless

and the

The Shakspere Flora.

mean.

Why

curiously.

so,

there

no occasion

Light enough

cast

upon

inquire too

by the classical

Shakspere quite appropriately introduces the fig in similar association, not forgetting the employment of poets.

to express insult

need not be

and contempt, and more than

this

said.

The APRICOCKS

of the lines last quoted

are

the

"apricots" of to-day, by Turner called the "hasty peche."

Early as they are to arrive, apricots at in

England

just now.

still

The

be a phenomenon. scene

midsummer would

This does not matter

laid in fairy-land,

where times and

seasons are indifferent, and in the climate of the Graces.

Another allusion to iii.,

this fruit occurs in

already cited

(p.

150).

Richard the Second,

The peach

though well-known in Elizabethan gardens,

by Shakspere

GRAPES upon its

ipsissima,

adverted to

in reference simply to its colour.

are mentioned

The

ten occasions.

the

Shaksperean dramas

beautiful climbing shrub, with

green tendrils, which produces them many other places;

the vine the

noticed in just as

receives notice nearly as often.

There

vineyard

no instance

of anything distasteful in the grape allusions; the poetic .passages are nevertheless those which refer rather to the plant, foremost

among them coming Cranmer's

fine

paraphrase of Scripture during his benedictions at the

baptism of Elizabeth: In her days every

man

shall eat in safety

Under his own vine what he plants, and sing The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours. Henry the Eighth,

v., 5.

The

Vine.

193

While the delicious masque in the Tempest,

are treated to the

Here

employment of one of the

capital

now

forgotten except

districts

particular

pole-clipt vineyard."

old Anglo-Saxon words rustics

iv.,

progress, Iris speaks of the

clyppan,

among

the

embrace.

Trained, as was formerly the practice with grape-growers, so as

encircle

poles,

embraces them.

Our

vine

the

....

himself for joy of his found daughter worries he his daughter with clipping her" Tale,

v.,

In Lancashire, to " is to

2).

arms fondly around one

come

Several fruits as the

GOOSEBERRY,

Wives,

iv., 2,

this day, to

twine the

in for trifling or incidental allusion,

in Second

Henry the Fourth,

iii.,

the

;

WALNUT,

in the

and the Taming of the Shrew, iv., in the same play, i., 2; Macbeth, i.,

It,

iii.,

2; the

i.,

Richard the Third,

CHESTNUT

As You

again

(Winter's

clip."

STRAWBERRY, in Othello, and Henry the Fifth, v., the

clasps

literally

king, being ready to leap out of

iii.,

Merry 3;

and

where Celia adduces the colour

of the ripe shell as corresponding with that of Orlando's

The MULBERRY,

glossy hair.

the last in the

long been established in English gardens wrote.

His personal regard

for this

list,

had

when Shakspere

famous tree

hardly needs the saying, to the planting by his

led, it

own hand,

of one which, but for sacrilege, would probably have been a joy to this very day, since the mulberry longaevals.

Coriolanus, iii.,

The iii.,

v.,

2 i

fruit is referred to in ;

and

in the

one of the

Venus and Adonis,

Midsummer Nighfs Dream, we have the beautiful

of the same play

The Shakspere Flora.

194

picture of Thisbe "tarrying in the mulberry shade," so

soon to be exchanged

moment when,

the

for the turf

moon

and the throbbing and the

high in the heavens,

"sweet wind did gently kiss the

trees,"

she herself,

panting, did Fearfully o'ertrip the dew, the lion's shadow ere himself,

And saw And ran, Alas,

the story

dismayed, away.

how much thou of human love

little veil

hast to answer for in

THE ESCULENT VEGETABLES. The

vegetables mentioned by Shakspere

esculent

those cultivated in the kitchen-gardens of the time,

adduced

most of the

facetious or jocular use,

more than once

fruits, chiefly for

are

some kind of

and only a few of them appear

or twice.

The

history of the intro-

duction to this country of the sorts indigenous to other lands, the times

when

brought, and by

whom,

constitutes

a very interesting chapter in the annals of horticulture. Here it is sufficient to note that several of the best our cultivated vegetables, like many of the best cultivated fruits, are accounted native productions of old England, though developed, probably, into the condition of

in which

we now have them upon

the continent.

Such

are the turnip, the carrot, which seems to be owing to

the

skill

of the Flemings of the time of

the immensely diversified plant

still

Edward

III.,

and

represented in the

Esculent Vegetables. wild cabbage of our sandy shores.

lettuce,

The

Romans. the

were in

Merry

all

radish,

likelihood, introduced

by the

first-mentioned,

Wives,

iii.,

sole allusion to the carrot

are

good not only

for

very ancient

Windsor beans, the

kinds, such as peas, broad or

and the

The

195

the turnip, appears in

which play also contains the Peas, Biron tells us, (iv., i).

man, but

for birds

This fellow picks up wit as pigeons' pease. Love's Labour's Lost,

The young green obsolete name of poetic

under

shells are also referred to

v., 2.

their

"squashes," 'derived from the onomato-

French esquacher, or Italian squasriare, as in the

Midsummer Night's Dream, iii., i, and in Twelfth Night, i., 5, "Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for

a boy,

squash

before

'tis

peascod."

"Peascod" was the appellation of the matured pod, or when ready for gathering; and after the manner of many an ancient and beautiful intimation in colloquial speech of the season intended, without actually mentioning it, in 2nd by citation of some characteristic product,

Henry

the

Fourth

fare thee well

made

a synonym of summer, "Well, have known thee these twenty-five

come peascod-time." Touchstone, in As You Like ii., 4, refers to a somewhat celebrated old method of

years It,

A fully by lovers with the pods. one was selected and snatched away suddenly from ripe divination practised

the stem.

broke, and the peas were scattered, the

omen was bad:

if it

happy,

in the present instance, of

though

remained whole, the promise was Jane Smile

The Shakspere Flora.

196

pretty chopped hands," we hear no more. Beans are mentioned in 1st Henry the Fourth, ii., i, in the same line with another reference to peas.

and "her

That various forms of the Brassica

have been

oleracea

cultivated from time immemorial, seems indubitable.

Shakspere, however, the reference

"Good

collective:

worts," exclaims old Falstaff, catching at Evans' faulty

pronunciation, "worts" instead of "words," and playing

upon

it,

"Good

worts

With

Good cabbages

(Merry

equivalent to the

modern

term was plainly market-woman's "greens."

Etymologically, the

word

primaeval.

Wives,

i.,

i.)

yElfric's translation of

wyrta

ealles eardes."

Sir

this

John is

Genesis

Then

5.,

ii.,

In Baret, 1580, we have "wourts, serve

the

for

cole

potte,"

all

call gsers

when

in Chaucer,

concealed, biding his time to pounce

appears in

"and

upon

and

the fox lies chanticleer.

kind of herbes that

kail

wort

included.

Aristophanes, says Lyte, "taunted his Euripides with the remark that his mother was not a seller of wurtes or good pot-herbs, but only of scandix." still

It is

plant-names

star-wort,

cross-wort, sneeze-wort,

stitch-wort,

and

fifty

the same, with

which appears in the

further extended significance,

rib-wort,

glass-wort,

others.

In what degree of estimation the Leek was held when Shakspere wrote, does not appear with any clearness, and the poet's

own

allusions

beautiful emerald

chrysoprasus, as well known,

hence

aptly

are only

lateral.

The

shade of the leaves adverted to in

cited

very anciently proverbial;

the

comic parody of the

Esculent Vegetables. Pyramus and Thisbe

Dream,

v., 2

Midsummer Nighfs

story in the

His eyes were green as leeks

;

Sisters three

Come, come

The

197

"Sisters" invoked are the classical Fates; Since you have shore shears his thread of

With

silk,

Tongue, not a word ; Come, trusty sword ;

Come,

blade,

And

breast imbrue

;

farewell, friends,

Thus Thisbe

ends,

Adieu, adieu, adieu!

The

Welsh

history,

ing several times in

and

that of the leek with

other interesting association

primitive

v., i,

King Henry

in the encounter

The origin emblem is

also placed before us, appear-

the Fifth

i; iv, 7;

(iv.,

between Pistol and

Fluellin).

of the use of this plant as the Welshman's referred to a period as early as the days of

King Arthur, whose

uncle, St. David, having gained a

great victory over the Saxons,

commanded

his

troops

thenceforward to wear, every one of them, a leek upon the anniversary of his death, which occurred March ist, A.D. 550.

It is to

be feared, however, that the

specific

identity of the plant intended by his ancient majesty

quite as problematical as that of *

The is

None

Patrick's shamrock,*

national badge of Ireland

white clover, Trifolium repens. lina,

St.

also honoured,

of these, after

and

all,

is generally thought to be the But the nonsuch, Medicago Lupu-

so, in truth, are several

other little

trefoils.

meet the requirements, which are of a

leaf

The Shakspere Flora.

198 since in

its

earliest signification, leac

of green and juicy plant, as

still

denoted any kind

indicated in the com-

pounds houseleek, hemlock, and charlock.

may be

worthy of notice here, that the Hebrew word translated "leeks" in

Numbers,

Old Testament rendered

xi.,

5, is

"He

"grass."

chdtsir,

elsewhere in the causeth

the

grow for the cattle" (Psalms, civ., 14). "Behold now behemoth which I made with thee; he eateth chdtsir chatsirto

an ox (Job,

The Onion,

xl.,

15).

like the leek, is

by Shakspere as an ing the breath

esculent,

never actually spoken of

though mentioned as

(Midsummer Night's Dream,

taint-

iv., 2),

and

several times in reference to the effect of the vapour

upon the eyes, drawing tears. In the Taming of the Shrew this is used satirically for sham or pretended grief: And if the boy have not a woman's gift To rain a shower of commanded tears,

An Again

live in

onion will do well for such a

Antony and

Cleopatra,

i.,

onion that should water

All's Well,

v.,

3, it

becomes a

shift.

this

( Introd.)

"Indeed the

tears

sorrow;" while in

figure for

mental percep-

coming trouble, not an elegant one, it must be acknowledged, though appropriate to the occasion,

tion of

Mine eyes smell

onions, I shall

weep anon.

Garlic, very naturally, appears only in similar association,

or as an article of food such as the vulgar alone would care for

'Midsummer Night's Dream,

iv.,

Measure

constituted of three exactly similar leaflets, a form supplied, in the by the wood-sorrel, Oxalis Acetosella.

British islands, solely

Esculent Vegetables. for Measure, Fourth,

iii.,

Coriolanus,

The Radish

iv.,

199 ist

mentioned

Henry the the same

4, and again in the Second Part, iii., 2. Lettuce appears in Othello, i., 3, where also there

play,

ii.,

reference to garden

Thyme.

Parsley

The is

mentioned in

a passage one does not care to re-peruse (Taming of the Shrew, iv., 4). Salad-plants in general are alluded to " under the name of " grass by Jack Cade (2nd Henry the Sixth,

Well,

iv.,

10,

iv.,

twice);

"I am no

have not much

and by the clown

in All's

great Nebuchadnezzar,

sir;

The famous Chaldaean

skill in grass."

monarch's "grass," it is hardly necessary to say, was not grass in the botanical sense of the word, but green herbaceous vegetation, in the Hebrew, 'asabh.

Excepting the pumpion or pumpkin, which would to have been grown in the Elizabethan gardens as a sort of ornamental adjunct, and which is used in the

seem

Merry Wives,

iii.,

as in old

Greek

literature,

phorically, for a great dullard or empty-pate; this,

excepting

the Shaksperean vegetables comprise, in addition,

only a few of the class called seasoning-herbs.

mingles mint, savory, (Winter's Tale, intelligibly, in

meta-

Indeed,

The Lear

sir,

Marjoram appears

iv., 3).

also,

not very

Sonnet xcix; and in All's Well, iv., 5: she was the sweet marjoram of the salad."

passage,

a watchword.

Perdita

and marjoram with her marigolds

iv., 6,

introduces the

Fennel possesses more

associated both with Falstaff says the dissolute

and

name simply interest,

and with Ophelia.

sensual,

being Poins,

though jovial old knight,

The Shakspere Flora.

2OO

"plays at quoits well, and eats conger and fennel" (2nd Henry the Fourth, ii., 4), a habit quite as probably his own, and fashioned not more upon the flavour of the plant,

when used

stition of the

as a condiment, than

time which

to quarrel with.

Falstaff, at least,

upon a superwould not care

"Auttours," says Turner (1568), "wryte

waxe yonge agayne by tastinge and eatynge of this herbe, wherefore sum thinke that the use of the herbe therefore is very mete for aged folke" (vol. 2. p. 5). that serpentes

When

Laertes' unhappy sister, addressing the king, says, " There's fennel for you, and columbines," there seems to be an allusion to another ancient belief, mentioned

Pliny,

and adopted by many

writers of the Shak-

sperean age, namely, that fennel improves the eyesight.

"It hath a wonderful propertie to take away the film web that overcasteth and dimmeth our eyes." She

hopes, by the

gift

it,

quicken the royal conscious-

ness, just, as a minute before, thinking of

her lost bridals, her of remembrance. also used as

lips

Hamlet and

play with rosemary, the

emblem

Fennel, in the Elizabethan age,

an emblem of

flattery:

was

"Little things catch

minds, and fancie (love) is a worm that feedeth first * One cannot but remember, when in the upon fennel."

light

presence of these green succulents, the happy metaphor in

Antony and Cleopatra^

i.,

My When

was green

Lyly.

salad days,

judgment.

Sappho,

ii.,

Garden Herbs.

201

ODORIFEROUS AND MEDICINAL HERBS. The home gardens, when Shakspere wrote, appear to have been rich in aromatic or odoriferous herbs and under-shrubs, in medicine.

many of which held a conspicuous place They were the store-houses whence the

good wives and

village

dames drew

their supplies for the

manufacture, chiefly by distillation, of cordials and simple

In an age when the use of mineral

domestic physic.

drugs had scarcely commenced, and faith in "potions" was unbounded, the little plots of balm, rue, and hore-

hound were almost

sacred.

The

tradition

was

still

alive

of virtues in plants equivalent to the miraculous, In such a night,

Medea gathered the enchanted Which did renew old yson ;

herbs,

the "Botany" of the times itself consisted very largely of search into, and enumeration of their qualities; fable was

even more

rife

employment

in the passage just referred to, of

than

the reality.

Hence, Ophelia's

that beautiful azure-blossomed shrub

Rosemary, which the ancients

associated with the spray of the sea, ros

marinus,

literally

"sea-dew,"

whence the name, in

that

fair

old

and conjugal affection as they always should do, hand in hand; "Her is smoothed with a comb; now she decks herself

picture where care of the toilet run, hair

with rosemary; again with violets or roses;

wears white

lilies;

sometimes

washes twice a day her face in springs

that trickle from the top of the Pagasaean

wood; and

The Shakspere Flora.

202

twice she dips her virtue

ascribed

in the stream."

body

was

The

particular

strengthening the

"Rosemarie comforteth the brayne, and

memory.

speech; especially the conserve

storeth

flowers thereof with sugar." f

ing rosmarine." "

that

recreated!

Newton,

made

calls

Spenser

re-

of the

"refresh-

in the Bible Herbal, says

and cheereth both the

mind

and

heart

Turner adds that "men do put rosa-mary in medicines that dryve werisumnes away." In the suave

of man."

poem, "a Nosegay, alwaies sweet, for Lovers," in Handefull of Pleasant Delites," already quoted 81), we have

little

the (p.

is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night, Wishing that I might alwaies have

Rosemarie

You

Can we wonder

present in

that

illustrated so tenderly in

in the realm of poetry

sight.

was consecrated

should be the

to friendship, as

Thomas More; and

Sir

first

that

be offered

by courteous Perdita Give me those flowers, :

Reverend sirs, there, Dorcas. For you there's rosemary, and rue ; these keep Seeming and savour all the winter long. Grace and remembrance be to you both, And welcome to our shearing (Winter's Tale, iv., 3.) !

was introduced,

for

the

same

reason,

among

symbols used at funerals, as in Romeo and Juliet, Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary

On and

this fair corse;

in the spirit of the gold ring, *

the

iv., 5,

Ovid, Met.,

xii.,

409-413.

emblem of t

constancy,

Lyte, p., 264.

Garden Herbs.

203

those used also at weddings,

among

wishes for

when a

sprig of

wine dedicated specially to good the bride's happiness. Rosemary is mentioned

rosemary was put

in the

also in

King Lear, ii.,3; Romeo and Juliet, ii.,

in Pericles,

RUE, distinguished

for its repulsive odour,

iv.,

6; and, facetiously,

was

also

celebrated in the bygones as a plant able to invigorate

"The

the memory.

juice,

with vinegar," says

have the

forgetful

Shakspere mentions

occasions, but never in the

five

upon

Without any etymological

sense.

that

happened ruta,

sicknesse."

regret

while

the

while the Latin

denoting

these

literal

strictly

connection,

name

and remorse were

verb

Lyte,

and quicken such

"given to smell unto, doth revive

of the plant was

old English ruth, emotions was, as it

continues to the present day, "to rue."

Playing upon the similarity of terms, rue was

made

by our forefathers, always glad of such an accident, the emblem of sorrow and repentance. The transition was easy to the idea of Grace, in the Scriptural sense of the word; and at last the plant itself was called

"Herb favour it

o' is

Grace," and simply "Grace."

The Divine

the most excellent of benisons ; for this reason,

invoked by Perdita.

regards the plant as the

Ophelia, on the other hand,

emblem simply of

grief.

Hence

while giving a portion of what she holds to the queen; the remainder she takes to herself " There's rue for you,

and

there's

"We may

some call

for

me"

herb

(in tone, alas,

how

grace on Sundays;

piteous!)

you may

The Shakspere Flora.

204

wear your rue with a difference." Why "on Sundays" does not appear. Perhaps it was a current phrase or

"With a

saying of the time.*

difference"

in-

telligible, the words being borrowed from the language

of heraldry, though by no means correctly used in the present instance, the heralds' "differences" (the crescent, the martlet, the annulet, &c.) denoting seniority of sons

when

means that with emblem of something more than simple grief, contrition in regard to the past. The heraldic phrase occurs also in Much Ado, i., i, when there are several, whereas Ophelia

the queen

should be the

dear lady Disdain,"

who, with

all

her

hearted, loving

airs

and

woman,

satirical,

aggravating Beatrice,

still a true, tender" of So now, if Benedick, says

graces,

he have wit enough to keep himself warm, let him bear She it for a difference between himself and his horse."

means nothing unkind,

since for

one who

impossible.

occur in

The

Cleopatra,

iv.,

iii.,

4; AlVs

For various conjectures as

Well,

quite

to iv.,

rue 5;

Grace grow where these drops

March

other Shaksperean allusions

Richard the Second,

and Antony and

a Beatrice

be unkind

in capacity for sincere affection to

fall

to the meaning, see Notes

Among them

and Queries,

a quotation from "Rue was a principal ingredient in the potion Dr. Warburton: which the Romish priests used to force the possessed to swallow These exorcisms were generally when they exorcised them. loth,

1883,

193.

performed upon a Sunday, in the church, before the whole congrein Notes and gation." Contracted into "Herbygrass," it was stated Queries,

Nov. i8th, 1882, that the name

is still

in use near Sheffield.

Garden Herbs.

205

adverted to by the old nurse in Romeo in both instances 3, and in Hamlet, iii., 2,

WORMWOOD, and Juliet,

i.,

with reference to

Labour's Lost,

To weed this

last

same

its

this

serves

bitterness,

v., 2, for

also

in Love's

an expressive metaphor,

wormwood from your

fruitful brain,

use recalling the frequent introduction of the " the wormwood and the gall,"

figure in Scripture,

affliction the

most

severe.

The

literature of all later ages

In the melancholy Pontic Epistles of the unfortunate author of the Metamorphoses (in which Epistles, by the way, there is scarcely a

supplies similar examples.

reference to trees

and

flowers), the

produce no more than the (3> i-> 2 3> an d again in 3, put

wormwood

"unsightly plains" "

unhappy wormwood Horace seems to 15).

bitter viii.,

for physic, the reputation of

from the beginning been that of bitterness. 2,

i.,

which has Epistles,

14.

HYSSOP appears Winter's Tale,

iv.,

Othello,

BALM

Antony and Cleopatra, Wives,

v.,

i.,

LAVENDER

in the

(the Melissa officinalis), in

and again

in the

Merry

The several chairs of order, look you, scour With juice of balm, and every precious flower.

The

last

passage recalls pleasantly the description of

good old Baucis when, preparing for her guests, she cleanses and sweetens her cottage table with "green mint," with

those other beautiful usages

when

was made

resort

for similar

of antiquity

purposes to verbena.

In these charming echoes of the past, most probably

The Shakspere Flora.

206

quite unperceived by the poet himself, consist not a few

of the fascinations that give him immortality. .

tips of sea-shells half

the

still

embedded

wet sand, such allusions

research.

They

in the tell

are gentle hints

sure reward beyond.

brown

Like the ripples of

of far more awaiting

and

Finally, there

introduced in ist Henry the Fourth,

invitations, with

the

ii.,

CHAMOMILE, where Shak-

pere's object seems to be, for once, to make merry expense of a writer of his own period, or nearly

at the so,

John Lyly, author of Euphues, or the Anatomie of Wit, Crowded with pedantry originally published in 1523. and

affectations, injurious, therefore, in its influence

the literary style of his admirers,

this

upon

celebrated work

way, nevertheless, moral, and of good practical service, becoming with the courtiers of the time a sort of guide to stately manners. Upon it rose the school of

was, in

its

Euphuists, writers

the tion,

and

antithesis.

who "

delighted in puns, allitera-

Though camomile,"

says Lyly,

trodden and pressed down, the more it spreadeth" (a well-known fact in botany); "yet the violet, the oftener it is handled and touched, the sooner

the

withereth and decaieth."

"Harry," says

do not only marvel how thou spendest thy

how thou the

the more

art

it is it

for

wasted, the sooner

" I

time, but also

though the

accompanied; trodden on, the faster

Falstaff,

camomile

grows, yet youth,

wears."

Whatever

may have been intended with regard to Lyly, remember that these latter words of wisdom are from the same heart that spoke in

Adam:

Garden Herbs.

207

Let me be your servant All this I give you. Though I look old, yet am I strong and lusty, For in my youth I never did apply

Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo The means of weakness and debility. ;

Therefore

age

as a lusty winter,

As You Like

Frosty, but kindly.

It, ii., 3.

Several of the above-named garden herbs are accounted

indigenous to the south of England, where, especially

upon is

sea-side

and

cliffs,

sandy pastures where there

and

smell of the waves, parsley, fennel, chamomile,

wormwood

are at

all

others, rue, hyssop, lavender, balm, like rosemary,

and marjoram

natives of the south of Europe.

introduced to this country

uncertain.

own

not very long before Shakspere's Fennel, Faniculum vulgare, differ

The

events thoroughly naturalised.

from the mass of

its

Some

are,

When think

time.

one of the species which

great family, the Umbelliferae,

in possessing bright yellow flowers,

by which, taken

connection with the stature, and the deep green leaves, split into innumerable capillary segments, it may always be easily recognised. Wormwood, Artemisia Absinthium, is

a curious

little

greyish and

bushy

plant,

covered in every part with

silky down, the flowers forming innumerable

half-pendulous and yellowish buttons the size of peas,

and borne graveolens,

in is

rather

panicle.

also grey in every part,

Rue,

Ruta

but not downy,

the four-petaled yellow flowers very curiously and prettily

crimped.

Hyssop

told from

its

near

allies

among

the

The Shakspere Flora.

208 Labiatae,

its

spikes

rich

varying sometimes to pink.

of aspect,

the

flowers,

the least effective of any of the series, the

flowers being white

among

violet-purple

Balm, as regards beauty

and

dark-hued

insignificant, It

foliage.

and half-concealed must not be con-

founded with the source of Balm-of-Gilead, mention of

which

also

made by

Shakspere,

occasions, as will be noticed in

name came little

and upon various

due course.

How

the

be extended to a plant relatively of such It is importance as the melissa, does not appear. to

one of the bequests of the botany of the middle ages.

fanciful

and

conjectural

ffiljapto

THE FARM. Silence little

happy

I were but the perfectest herald of joy Much Ado, ii., could say how much. :

if I

Shaksperean references to farm-plants,

after the

same manner as those

esculents,

are

light they

reflect

to every age

interesting

When

are of the kind that for

watery

glass,

Midsummer Night's Dream, fresh-fair virgins

i.,

iii. ,

like grass,

and your flowering

Henry P

the

liquid pearl the bladed grass.

Mowing Your

the agriculture of

Phoebe doth behold

silvery visage in the

Decking with

to garden

chiefly

and country, the greater portion

instance of the allusions to grass

Her

upon

Some

the period.

belong

infants.

the Fifth,

The Shakspere Flora.

TO These

tidings nip

me, and

hang the head

flowers with frost, or grass beat down with storm. Titus Andronicus, iv., 4. to her,

Say

we have measured many on

tread a measure with her

Labour 's

Love's

Now

and

miles

this grass.

some

then, in allusion to the same,

custom comes in

superstition or rural

opening of the Merchant of

ANTONIO

In sooth

know

not

why

pretty old

for notice, as at the

when Antonio

Venice,

telling his friends of his anxieties

Lost, v., 2.

so sad

;

It wearies

SALARIO

me; you say it wearies you. Your mind is tossing on the ocean ;

There, where your argosies with portly sail, Like signiors and rich burghers of the flood, it were, the pageants of the sea, overpeer the petty traffickers, That curt'sey to them reverence

Or, as

As they fly by them with their woven wings. SALANIO Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth, The better part of my affections would Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still :

know where

Plucking the grass to

primitive

would be

mode

sits

the wind.

of forecasting the weather

difficult to find,

unless, perhaps, in the con-

templation in the olden time of the scarlet pimpernel,

The allusion is very idea being that in times of

the "shepherds' weather-glass." appositely introduced, the

profound anxiety, men turn to the most tokens of the possible future. Roger discredit treatise

it.

upon

trivial signs

Ascham

and

did not

"This way," says he, in his famous old Archery, 1571, "I used in shooting.

The Farm.

211

Betwixt the markes was an open place.

There

take a

and so learned how the wind

fethere, or a lyttle grasse,

stood."

Shakspere's references to grass are probably not fewer

than twenty or

thirty,

productions of the

but he never means

precise as to kind.

soil is

number of genuine

anything term applied to the vegetable used in a broader sense. The

botanical grasses in England con-

siderably exceeds a hundred,

and of these about

thirty

help to supply the natural food of sheep and cattle, though not more than fifteen different kinds ever occur in

same meadow.

the

scores of at

little

The word

all.

spere as

it is

Mingled with them there are

plants which, botanically, are not grasses to

be taken, accordingly, in Shak-

colloquially, or as denoting the

whatever they

be, of the turf, the

may

components,

meadow, and

pasture of every description. " Corn " is to be understood in

much the same way, or as a general term for cereal grain, though the appellation may at times be made specific. In Shakspere this word occurs upon

at least

twenty occasions, sometimes in

reference to corn as an article of food; sometimes, as

has been for thousands of years (corn being an adjunct, as well as one of the factors of civilisation), as an

emblem No I

of prosperity and wealth use of metal, corn, or wine, or

right glad to catch this

Most thoroughly

And

corn shall

fly

oil.

ii.,

good occasion,

be winnowed, where

asunder.

Tempest,

Henry

chaff

the Eighth, v.,

The Shakspere Flora.

212

Occasionally there

a fine image of some other kind,

as in Cranmer's flattering prophecy of the grand reign of

Elizabeth

Her

foes shake like a field of beaten corn,

And hang

Why

their

droops

heads with sorrow.

my lord,

Hanging the head

7&V/, v., 4.

like over-ripened corn

at Ceres' plenteous load ?

2nd Henry

the Sixth,

First let me teach you how to knit again This scattered corn into one mutual sheaf.

When,

in the

Midsummer

says,

Night's Dream,

Am not

and Titania

thy lord

i.,

Titus, v., 3.

i.,

Oberon

replies,

must be thy lady. But I know thou hast stolen away from fairy-land, in the shape of Corin sat all day,

Then

When And

Playing on pipes of corn, and versing love,

she refers particularly to oats, the stems of which, just

they begin to change colour, supply tolerably inflexible tubes, which, with a little trimming, can be conbefore

verted into pipes, suitable in clever hands for imitation of

such music as that of the "great god Pan," when he In ancient times resorted to the "reeds by the river." these

little

pipes were a favourite musical instrument with

shepherds, as appears both from Ovid (Met., i., 677) and from Virgil, whose reference to them is almost the first thing learned in school-boy Latin, Tityre, tu, patulse recubans sub tegmine fagi, Eel. Silvestrem tenui Musam meditaris avena.

i.,

The Farm.

make

equivalent to

them

the

Lost, at the

They end

the musician

When

shepherds pipe on oaten straws, larks are ploughmen's clocks.

As a

grain

upon

four or five occasions.

Tempest,

good

iv.,

himself being so

are spoken of also in Love's Labour's

And merry

twice

peculiarly appropriate,

diminutive.

made also in Eel. x., 51. Both avena, when used in this connection, calamus and arundo. The introduction of Midsummer Night's Dream passage is

Mention of them authors

for horses,

Henry

Shakspere refers to the

BARLEY appears

the Fifth,

in.,

OAT

twice

RYE

also

Between the acres of the rye Those pretty country

folks

would

lie.

As You Like

It, v.

You sun-burned sicklemen, of August weary, Come hither from the furrow and be merry, Make holiday, your rye-straw hats put on. Tempest,

WHEAT comes and then

rather

iv., I.

frequently; and now

in very beautiful association

O happy fair

Your eyes are lode-stars, and your tongue's sweet air More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear, When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear.

Midsummer Night's Dream,

\.,

As love between them like the palm might flourish ; As peace should still her wheaten garland wear. Hamlet,

The green fodder

v., 2.

plants esteemed in the Elizabethan age

The Shakspere Flora.

214

appear to have been precisely those which are valued by

CLOVER

the farmer of to-day. the Fifth,

v.,

also,

;

is mentioned in Henry under the synonym of " honey-

stalks," in Titus Andronicus, iv., 4.

VETCHES

are

named

MidTempest, iv., i; summer Nighfs Dream, ii., i. An exception must be made perhaps, as regards Burnet, named with clover in and HORSE-BEANS

in the

the

Henry

the Fifth passage, care for this plant as a cattle-

now

food being plants,

its

As one of Shakspere's

very limited.

place of course remains unchanged, and being

frequent as a wild-flower in calcareous its

pretty complexion

the

in the

quite easy.

Potenum Sanguisorba,

districts, to learn

Botanically, burnet

the generic

name

referring to

the pleasant flavour imparted by the leaves, which taste like

something

Thus cucumber, to goblets of wine. " it yealdeth a certaine

employed, says the old herbalist,

grace in the drinking," making the heart "merry and glad."

The

leaves,

which come up in dense

very elegantly pinnate. little

spheres

The

are

flowers

at the points of stems

tufts,

clustered

are in

about nine inches

high, the stamens hanging out in buff-coloured tassels,

the

pistils

forming

little

crimson

aspergilli.

SHAKSPERE'S WEEDS. so called, are wild-flowers in excess of number,

Weeds, and growing where the

wanted

for the purposes of of the plants which few individually, are prone to trouble the gardener and the farmer through

cultivation.

their

soil is

Taken

fecundity

and

their

perseverance, are inferior in

Shaksperes Weeds. beauty of structure to the

generality

Isolated by the wayside,

favourites.

215

and

the garden

in the pride of

summer, they seldom fail to please. Many of the larger kinds no doubt, for want of training, become their

ragged and disorderly, but even then they redeem them-

by their lustre. Nothing in the costliest garden is more splendid than a full-grown cotton-thistle, a scarlet selves

corn-poppy, or a well-developed specimen of the azure

Echium

bugloss,

what the the

gem

plant

At any

vulgare.

as where

is,

or the weed; just as,

regard to the affections,

it is

time,

not so

much

that constitutes either

upon the converse,

not so

much

in places that

repose is found, as in persons. Shakspere shows us many a time that weeds, although impedimenta, can still be made elements of most beautiful pictures. Nowhere in his writings

sorrowful

there a

description than

perfectly finished

that

though one of the calamities

induced by war, under the figure of weeds, in Henry the Fifth, briefly referred to

when speaking

My duty to you both, an equal love, Great kings of France and England That

With

all

wits,

of the cowslip

have laboured

pains,

and strong endeavours

bring your most imperial majesties Unto this bar and royal interview,

Your mightiness on both Since, then,

office

parts best can witness.

hath so

far prevailed,

That, face to face, and royal eye to eye, You have congreeted ; let it not disgrace me, If I demand, before this royal view,

What

rub, or

what impediment there

is,

The Shakspere Flora.

2i6 Why

that the naked, poor,

Dear nurse of

plenties, arts,

and mangled peace, and joyful births,

Should not,

Our Alas

in this best garden of the world, France, put up her lovely visage ? she hath from France too long been chased,

fertile !

And

all

Her

vine, the

her husbandry doth lie on heaps, Corrupting in its own fertility.

merry cheerer of the heart,

; her hedges even-pleached, Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair, Put forth disorder'd twigs her fallow leas,

Unpruned

dies

The

darnel, hemlock,

and rank fumitory,

Doth root upon while that the coulter rusts, That should deracinate such savagery. The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover, ;

Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank, Conceives by idleness, and nothing teems But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs, Losing both beauty and utility. And, as our vineyards, fallows, meads, and hedges, Defective in their natures, grow to wildness, Even so our houses, and ourselves, and children, Have lost, or do not learn, for want of time The sciences that should become our country,

But grow, like savages, as soldiers will, That nothing do but meditate on blood, To swearing, and stern looks, diffused attire,

And

everything that seems unnatural;

Which to reduce into our former favour, You are assembled and my speech entreats That I may know the let, why gentle peace ;

Should not expel these inconveniences,

And

bless us with her former qualities.

(v., 2.)

Mark, before going into the consideration of the individual weeds, the powerful reminder supplied in this

Shaksperes Weeds. fine passage,

that Nature, although from

view, inanimate and passionless,

and

forth both joy

life

tended; fed with

human

dishonourable in

life

capable of setting the highest poetry

higher

love,

than

well as with

the

with

lamentable.

the

the bridal couch of virtue he gives flowers

QUEEN

Sweets to the sweet

simply

Carefully

Mark, also, what is

rejoices.

of weeds

the Shaksperean association

one point of

runs to waste.

Neglected,

physiological.

All

sorrow.

Nature a

recognises

217

Farewell,

hoped thou should'st have been

Hamlet's wife.

thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid, And not have strewed thy grave. Hamlet, v., i. I

the contrary,

sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall this contract grow ; but barren hate,

To make

Sour-eyed disdain, and discord shall bestrew of your bed with weeds so loathly

The union That you

"Aspersion"

shall hate

both.

Tempest,

iv.,

one of the words which

illustrate

how

curiously, with lapse of time, the original or literal sense

may disappear,

or nearly so, the figurative or metaphorical

one alone remaining. The literal sense of "aspersion," that in which Shakspere employs the word, is a scattering or sprinkling, as of rain-drops from the clouds,

and upon the people during the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. At present it

when is

the "holy water"

seldom heard except

cast

in the

extended sense of

ing calumny or false accusations.

scatter-

Three curious old

terms in the Henry the Fifth passage also deserve notice,

The Shakspere Flora.

2i 8

"deracinate," "teem," literally to tear

Cressida,

and "the

let."

deracinate

by the roots; as again in Troilus

and

i.,

Frights, changes, horrors, Divert and crack, rend, and deracinate The unity and calm of married states

Quite from their

Teem "

fixture.

the Anglo-Saxon teman, to bring forth, as

in the miserable king's imprecations

daughter

upon

his shameless

Hear, nature, hear;

Dear goddess, hear

Thou

Suspend thy purpose,

didst intend to

make

this creature fruitful

Unto her womb convey sterility Dry up in her the organs of increase, And from her derogate body never spring !

A babe to honour her

If she must teem, Create her child of spleen, that it may live, And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her! !

A "let" signified originally a hindrance, make

a ghost of

him

Lear,

i.,

as in Hamlet, "I'll

Shakspere's contem-

that lets me."

poraries use the word in exactly the same sense: It

had been done ere

We had had no stop, In matters of

The number

this kind,

dramas must be

this,

had

let.

been counsel

Ben Jonson.

usually his

own

interpreter.

words which occur but once

in the

relatively very small.

Several of the weed-names

passage must be understood as

in the

Henry

collective.

the Fifth

The names

of individual kinds of cornfield interlopers have in

ages been employed as appellations

for the

all

aggregate;

Shakspere's Weeds.

219

and though science may

find

convenient to restrict

the application, as long as the world lasts, the usus loquendi will take its ancient course. Shakspere probably

meant nothing

down

tie

this

definite

name

by "darnel," though the botanists Lolium temulentitm. They do

to the

so because tradition says that this grass was the infelix lolium of Virgil, which

the aljoa of the Greeks.

the

^aviov of

the

same as

The

sense

the parable of the

rendered "tares."

identifying

with

precisely that of

sower, in the A.V.

Fuchsius, in 1542, folio 127, figures

the purple-flowered corn-cockle, Agrostemma, or Githago

name

segetum, under the slation of Fuchsius,

identical plant

of lolium, and, as if in tran" darnel " is the name given to this

by Shakspere's contemporary, Drayton

The crimson darnel- flower, the blue-bottle, and gold,* Which though esteemed but weeds, yet for their dainty

And

for their scent not

ill,

hues,

they for their purpose choose.

Cockle and lolium seem, in truth, to have meant, in the Shaksperean times, very much the same thing. Chaucer had already used "cockle" for cornfield-weeds in general.

Old Latimer, speaking of Satan, p. 71,

asks vehemently

"who

in his

famous Sermons,

able to

tell his

diligent

preaching which every day and every hour laboureth to sow cockle and darnel ? " Newton, in the Herbal to the Bible,

1587, observes:

"Under

these

names of cockle

and darnel are generally understood not themselves but also

harmefull encumbrances,

all

'"Golds,"

in the

Chrysanthemum

lets,

hurts,

only,

and

Elizabethan times, were the corn-marigold,

segetum.

Spenser

calls

them "goolds."

The Shakspere Flora.

220

annoyances, which doe any way hinder the growth of

"Darnel" appears again

come."

when is

King Lear,

iv.,

the wretched old monarch, his reason departed,

met As mad as the vexed sea singing aloud Crowned with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, With hardocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, ;

;

Darnel, and

all

the idle weeds that

grow

In our sustaining corn.

"Cockle," anciently "kokylle" caucalis, the

Greek

tioned in Coriolanus,

and again

iii.,

The

sense

men-

seems

our senate

Lost,

some kind of proverbial

Allons

cockle of rebellion,

Lovts Labour's

to preserve

derived from

in a figurative sense,

We noui'ish 'gainst The

name

ravcaXcc, the wild carrot

allons

Sowed

iv., 3,

where

phrase,

cockle reaped no corn.

here that, beginning with deceit, the end

can be only emptiness and disappointment, as verified by the lines which immediately succeed :

And

measure justice always whirls in equal Light wenches may prove plagues to men forsworn If so, our coffer buys no better treasure. ;

For convenience' sake, as with

"darnel,"

;

may be

allowed to limit Shakspere's '-cockle" to the Githago,

one of the handsomest plants of its tribe, the purple an inch across, and lifted to the level, nearly,

flowers

of the ripening ears.

So with "Hemlock." shows

The

derivation of this

name

have been originally applied to large and

221

Shaksperes Weeds. members of

vigorous

the natural order Umbelliferae in

general, both poisonous

and innocuous,

as indeed

it is

Foremost among of hemlock be the these would Botany, Conium genuine the Angelica and Cicuta the cow-bane, virosa, maculatum, this

day with the non-discriminating.

sylvestris.

Nothing more

regard either to the

Henry

definite

can be asserted in

the Fifth passage, or

the

King Shakspere may quite possibly have the Old Testament, where in two the word from adopted and Amos, vi., 12), it is put for the places (Hosea, x., 4, Lear.

other in

Hebrew

ro'sh,

a term of unknown

denoting some kind of

signification, except as

corn-field intruder.

It is these

any case, the larger Umbelliferse, which are to be understood by the term "kecksies," or self-same plants,

kex, applied to stiff,

them by metonymy, kecksies being the

round, tubular stems, useful,

when

stripped of the

and trimmed, for various domestic purposes. The name may be connected very specially with the stems of

leaves

the angelica, that beautiful

species of

its

great family

which haunts the water-side in every stream-fed meadow, reserves its large round delicately lilac umbel till the arrival of

autumn, and is always so reluctant to go. occurs a third time in Macbeth, when the

The name

witches are preparing their horrible broth, Root of hemlock, digg'd

Here we may

in the dark.

legitimately understand

allusion to the

genuine conium, the deadly "hemlock" par excelletice, "whosoever taketh which into his body," says Lyte,

The Shakspere Flora.

222

"Root" does not

"dieth remedilesse."

mean

necessarily

merely the radix, being put, again by metonymy, for the plant as a whole, a very

common

trated in another passage in the

where Banquo,

usage,

same

and well

illus-

one

that

play,

after the interview with the infernal trio,

says to Macbeth,

Were such things Or have we eaten

here, as

we do speak about ?

of the insane root, That takes the reason prisoner? (i., 3.)

The

root or plant intended here

would seem

be hen-

bane, Hyoscyamus mger, described as far back as the

time of Dioscorides, as causing madness, an idea repeated in various writers of the Shaksperean age, as Boord, in the Brevyary of Health, 1557, and Bulleyn, "if

be used

and whoso useth more than

bring frenzie,

who

says,

either in sallet or in potage, then doth

four leaves

be in danger to sleepe without waking." By "Hardocks," mentioned in the Lear passages, are

shall

probably intended those roughest and coarsest of our native their

plants,

the

more-usually-called

"burdocks,"

one or two kinds, the Arctium Lappa and Arctium

Bardana of

the botanists.

Haunting farm-land, although

by artists for their foregrounds, they are almost too cumbersome to be admired. They the foliage

liked

possess a certain curious interest, nevertheless, in the

abundance of

their spherical heads, purple-topped while

young, and covered

at all times with little hooks,

catch one's clothing, or anything else that instant,

and never

willingly let go.

Hence

soft,

which

on the

the familiar

Shakspere's Weeds.

name

of "burs," given to the plant

sake,

the Fifth,

Henry

223

itself,

for brevity'

and so aptly employed

metaphor, upon no fewer than four separate occasions Nay,

friar, I

in :

a kind of bur, I shall stick.

Measure for Measure,

iv., 3.

Our kindred, though they be long ere they are wooed, are conTroilus and stant, being won; they are burs, I can tell you. Cressida,

iii.

the Midsummer Night's Dream, iii., when Rosalind and Celia, before setting

Then

lastly,

the woods, are chatting in somewhat melancholy

Rosalind

herself,

who

of briars

this

in such cases

"They

petticoats

come

have a loving Celia at hand to reply,

we walk not

will

just yet

burs are in

mood,

"O how weighing upon her mind: work-a-day world !" Happy those

are but burs, cousin, thrown

foolery.

and

off for

even, dejected for the time, for her

father's sorrows are full

catch

upon thee

them."

But the

"I could shake them heart."

in holiday

in the trodden path, our very

Were

off

smile

the occasion

cannot

coat; these

pro-

foundly serious, the words would remind one of the iron that " entereth into the soul."

Shakspere's "Thistles" may be thought of as well represented in the stalwart and universal Carduus lanceolatus, the

"spear-thistle" of the vernacular, which will

serve alike for the intruding weed, picture in the

and

for the beautiful

Midsummer Nighfs Dream,

of the bee

sucking the honey from the well-charged crimson bloom. Shakspere,

who had

the observing eye, that inestimable

The Shakspere Flora.

224

privilege, could

not

fail,

however, to have often noticed

the wand-like stems of the palustris, and their crowded clusters;

and

the arvensis, that returns to the charge again

supremely

valour

with

again,

handsome

little-travelled

plant

and of

roads,

and

troublesome; of

that

the green margins

of the

downs,

green

airy

nodding musk-thistle, Carduus nutans, so fragrant, but would molest it.

alas, so vicious to the fingers that

Fairly precise

as the application of this

least of

in literature generally, and,

employment it is

name

must not be accepted as such

"thistle"

Shakspere,

in the A.V. of the

all,

as regards

its

Old Testament, where

used in the broad and general sense of prickly cornIn the famous Genesis passage, iii., 18,

field plants.

the

Hebrew word,

dardar,

means anything

if it

specific,

denotes, perhaps, the Tribuhis terrestris, or "caltrops;"

and the same

will

then be meant in Hosea,

other

Hebrew word

vague

in the literal sense, that

thistle, thorn,

Shakspere's

Malva

thistle," choach,

it is

"dock,"

Tempest,

large,

summer Ni%hfs

iii.,

of the same line are the

a plant incapable of keeping

Dream,

safely

obtusifolius of

itself tidy,

Knot-grass," is

the

Mid-

Polygonum

called "hindering," because of a droll super-

stition that if it

may

ii.,

but with beautiful purple flowers.

leaves,

rendered indifferently,

Rumex

coarse

The "mallows

sylvestris,

aviatlare,

The

x., 8.

and bramble.

understood as the the wayside.

translated

a boy drank an infusion of the stems and

would

arrest his growth.

Fumitory

that

Shaksperes Weeds. and

light

name

of which

retain

loth

Fumaria

Autumn

depart,

gives daily warning, are always

and

never prettier than

tears"

"Rank"

Many

when

dewy beams of fumiter means simply the

"luxuriant," the epithet having here the

intrusion

furrows

the

"smiling through its an October sunrise.

in Genesis

The

own.

its

and rosy and the

officinalis,

corn and barley have been one of the sweet little lingering things

It is

garnered.

with purple

annual, call

undivided ly

after

long

which, though so

little

pretty

which botanists

flowers,

225

same sense as

xli., 5.

of the plants which vex the gardener by their where not wanted, really and truly deserve the

epithet of rank, or luxuriant to a degree that renders

them harmful. Third,

ii.,

These are referred

Grandam, one

Richard the

4: night, as

uncle Rivers talked

we did sit at supper, how I did grow

" More than my brother. Ay, quoth my uncle Gloster, "Small weeds have grace; great herbs do grow apace;" And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast, Because sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste. ' '

Of the

Shakspere's agricultural weeds there remains only the familiar stinging plant from which

Nettle,

Ophelia's flowers

and

differentiated alike

by its beautiful golden bloom of the Urtlca

inability to hurt, the

being green and insignificant.

The

latter is

mentioned

by Shakspere upon eleven distinct occasions, several of which involve metaphor, as most natural, considering the Q

The Shaksfere Flora.

226

temper of the

One

plant.

one

reference alone calls

for

because of the proposed curious change of the reading. In Twelfth Night, Olivia's maid ii., 5, when keen-witted, sarcastic Maria

special notice,

comes

with

accustomed

his

How

villain:

little

Some

the

chiefly

"Here," exclaims

the garden,

tripping into

Toby, the

this

critics

drollery,

now,

say

this

Sir

"Here comes

nettle

of India?"

ought to be

"mettle."

Others would have "metal," understanding the phrase to mean "gold of India," and to be equivalent to "my

There is no necessity for any such change. In the scene closely preceding (ii., 3), Sir Toby has already addressed the "little villain" as Penthesilea, da; ling."

her, by the use of that name, to the famous queen of the Amazons, killed in single combat with In Achilles, a fate declaring her spirit and courage.

comparing

i.,

where her behaviour to the pair of old knights

shows very plainly what she is made of, Sir Andrew calls her "fair shrew." Now, Maria all over, she is about to cheat her "trout" Malvolio.

what

ahead.

Sir

Toby

perceives exactly

aptly compares her to the lively

weed, and "of India" comes in adjectively as a metaphor of the warmth of purpose with which she will operate

upon her

victim.

the Sixth,

iii.,

Nay, mark, I

hope

The

idea comes up again in

how Lewis stamps

all's for

look you,

as he

were nettled

;

the best.

Also in ist Henry the Fourth,

Why,

3rd Henry

i.,

am whipped and

scourged with rods,

Shakspere s Weeds. Nettled,

Of this It

not

may

the

and stung with pismires, when

vile politician,

nettle

manner

same

the

hear

Bolingbroke. after

superfluous,

passage

227

Othello,

when

all,

since

quote

illustrates

Apemantus

appeals

Shame not these woods," how proTimon, found was Shakspere's knowledge of the possibilities of human nature. lago has the heart and the desires to

demon.

ourselves

allows

Shakspere

that

are

him,

"Virtue? a

to give lessons in ethics.

thus,

nevertheless, fig!

thus.

Tis

Our bodies

are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners;

so that

plant nettles, or

and weed up thyme,

Supply

sow it

set

lettuce, hyssop, with one gender of

with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with industry; why the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills " (L, 3). herbs, or distract

The

passage

of course to be understoad as entirely

metaphorical.

lettuce, hyssop,

and thyme, he means

the agreeable possessions and pleasures of the heart which

reward discreet

self-culture.

Nettles,

on the other hand,

represent the miserable, discontented hours, the susceptibilities to mean mortification, which inevitably arise

upon neglect of it, with those most despicable of things, envy and selfishness.

all

"Weed," Anglo-Saxon weed, meaning clothes or apparel, a sense of the word now almost forgotten, except in " widow's weeds," also occurs several times in Shakspere. In the

Winters

Tale,

iv.,

when Perdita

dressed

The Shakspere Flora.

228

somewhat showily Florizel says

for the reception of her father's guests,

These your unusual weeds to each part of you Do give a life ; no shepherdess, but Flora, Peering in April's front. This your sheep-shearing Is as a meeting of the petty gods,

And you So

in the

the queen on't.

Midsummer Night's Dream,

ii.,

There sleeps Titania, some time of the night, Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight

And there the snake throws her enamell'd Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in.

The

;

skin

grey transparent beauty of the cast-off skin of the is well known. The amplitude is more than

snake

enough: the variegated delicacy of the natural pattern might supply hints for the fabricators of mantles other than such as fairies need.

THE WILDERNESS AND THE WAYSIDE. Love adds a precious seeing

to the eye;

A lover's gaze will gaze an eagle blind A lover's ear will hear the lowest sound. ;

Love's Labour's Lost,

ROM is

iv., 3.

the neglected farm to the wilderness

but

step;

nevertheless, different.

The

the

productions

many

respects

are,

quite

ligneous plants found in

the hedgerows, where

all

is,

no doubt,

as well as in the wilderness, comfortable, are themselves

always in

suggestive

constitute

the untamed. a

The hedgerows,

kind of

charming border-land between scenes of exact culture and the desert. They truth,

contain

little

that

has been

deliberately planted;

parts they are altogether barbarian; yet

happens that

their

quite as often

productions are no less estimable

The Shakspere Flora.

230

economic use than those of the meadow and the

for

Their happy intermediate character is by the graceful decorative plants which often intermingle plentifully with the ruder ones the cottage garden.

declared also

vine-like bryony, the glossy tamus, the pencilled

vetch, the scarlet to

and orange-berried

wood-

spindle-tree

not

mention the wild clematis, the twice-blooming honey-

suckle,

and the dog-roses that never satiate. Sheltered larger plants, on the slopes below them grow

by these

wild-flowers that enjoy

life

upon the hedge-bank more

than in any other habitat which

suits

their nature, as

the germander-speedwell and the snowy mollugo;

slight

matter

is it for

and

these, that along with all other

wilderness and semi-wilderness wild-flowers,

they have

the privilege of immunity from the swift ruin wrought

by the

sickle

and the

scythe.

Shakspere refers to at least a dozen of the hedgerow and wilderness class of our indigenous Flora, and, as a rule, the allusions, if

have nothing spicuous first

among

all

not distinctly pleasing and poetical, about them that offends. Con-

the fruit-bearing kinds,

instance, the wild apple,

crab," as in a passage that

sense were I'll I'll

often

have, in the

called simply the

would be beautiful

in every

not spoken under the influence of wine

show thee

the best springs; I'll pluck thee berries; fish for thee, and get thee wood enough.

me bring thee where crabs grow And I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how I pr'ythee let

;

The Wilderness. To To

snare the nimble marmazet. clustering filberds,

Young

The

I'll

and sometimes

sea-mells from the rock.

231

bring thee I'll get thee

Tempest,

harshness and the acidity of the

ii.,

fruit

are proverbial

PETRUCHIO Nay, come, Kate, come, you must not look so sour. KATHERINE: It is my fashion when I see a crab. PETRUCHIO Why here's no crab, and therefore look not sour. :

Taming of It

was esteemed, nevertheless, in

the Shrew,

ii.,

rustic fireside merry-

makings,

When Then

roasted crabs hiss in the bowl, nightly sings the staring owl. Love's Labour's Lost,

PUCK: And sometimes

lurk I in a gossip's bowl,

In very likeness of a roasted crab.

Midsummer

When

pressed, as

if for

Night's Dream,

ii.,

cider-making, these wild apples

yielded the thin and rather poor condiment for those

who could

not afford a better one of the kind, called

In the Elizabethan age it was in common use, and though not mentioned by Shakspere, seems to be

verjuice.

pointed to in the in

Much Ado;

his superior,

name

of the

silly

sub-constable Verges,

just as foolish, self-complacent Dogberry,

seems to have got his name from the worthdogwood, Cornus sanguined*

less fruit of the

* This

must not be confounded with the cherry-like

Cotnus mascula, celebrated by the old of the sanguinea, very black,

and

bitter.

common

Roman

in the south of

poets.

fruit

of the

The

berries

England, are small,

The Shakspere Flora.

232 The wood its

of the crab-tree was valued for the sake of

toughness: Fetch

a dozen crab-tree staves, and strong ones.

Henry

The

After the crab comes the hazel-nut

Hazel-nut.

only the produce, never the tree in the

first

the Eighth, v., 3.

itself,

except

laterally,

portion of Petruchio's gallant comparison, Kate, like the hazel-twig,

and slender; and as brown in hue As hazel-nuts, and sweeter than the kernels. Is straight

Taming of'the Shrew

Are we

to to think of Baptista's

Was

gipsy-faced?

ii.,

she another "Nut-brown mayde,"

that faithful creature to

whom good and

evil

were alike

indifferent, so that she could share the fate of the

she loved, even in the wilderness

Among

shrewish daughter as

man

the wylde dere, such an archere say that ye be,

As men

May

ye not fayle of good vitayle,

Where

so great plente.

And

water clere of the ry vere Shal be full swete to me,

With which

in hele, I shall ryght wele

Endure, as ye shall

see.

And, or we go, a bedde or two, I can provyde anone, For, in my mynde, of all I love but you alone.

Perhaps he intended that her colour,

likening them

manner of Mercutio

to the in

mankynde

eyes

were of that beautiful

smooth brown

Romeo and Juliet:

shell after the

"Thou

wilt

The Wilderness.

233

man for cracking nuts, having no other thou hast hazel eyes." because reason but quarrel with a

Shakspere knew

full

manners and

well the ways, the

customs, of simple woodland creatures;

his zoology is

often as interesting as his botany:

TITANIA I have a venturous fairy that shall seek The squirrel's hoard, and fetch thee new nuts. Midsummer Night's Dream, :

And how

beautiful the introduction of the

as a skilled artificer

little

iv.,

animal

then I see Queen

Mab

hath been with you

midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate-stone On the forefinger of an alderman,

She

the

fairies'

Drawn

with a team of little atomies, Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep.

Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut, Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub, Time out of mind the fairies' coachmakers. Romeo and Juliet,

iv.,

Whatever people may think of Folk-lore in general a natural outcome of the human fancy, therefore wisdom to the wise, though folly to the incurious, to resist capture

since

it is

by Queen Mab,

in Shakspere that she

assigned to her.

the

first

it is

appears in the place

earlier instance,

that

occurs in literature of her being styled the Fairies.

Gloriana, the "Faery

impossible particularly

to say,

Queen of

the

Queene" of Shakspere's

noble contemporary, Edmund Spenser, it hardly needs the saying, is not queen of the fairies at all, but of

The Shakspere Flora.

234 chivalry

and the knightly is full

royal lady

The

virtues.

of charming interest.

history of the for the

Enough

present to say that while in powers and attributes

Mab

another rendering of the

name

classical Diana, the is

the

Meave

woven its

in so

Mebdh

many

and

Keltic,

that she

of ancient Irish story.

Folk-lore,

hues, pleased Shakspere

most upon

How

fairy side.

itself is

Queen

idea pourtrayed in

to step to the front

often the

little

we have seen

beings are allowed

They com-

already.

pensate the total absence from his dramas of

little .girls.

Five or six other allusions to nuts and nutshells might be quoted, but with one exception they carry little of This is in AIVs Well, when Lafeu says importance.

and

of the foppish

vacant

the soul of this

man

Parolles,

metaphor, "There can be no kernel his clothes:

trust

matter of heavy consequence" (ii., 4). nuts are called "filberts," the name,

meant

The Blackberry Cressida,

Henry

fruit,

but that

shown by the context. mentioned thrice; in Troilus and

4, as an

speaking,

strictly

emblem of

worthlessness ; in ist

the Fourth, Falstaff the speaker, as

abundance

him not

In the Tempest

of the garden or cultivated form of the the hazel-nut

well-chosen

in this light nut:

an emblem of

Give you a reason on compulsion

reasons were as plenty as blackberries,

would give

no man a reason on compulsion;" and further on, in the same scene, again by Falstaff, while joking with Prince

Henry" Shall

micher, and

the blessed son of heaven prove a

eat blackberries

The

allusion

here to

The Wilderness.

235

boys who," playing truant from school, and afraid to go

home,

to escape observation

and by hedgerows,

lanes

out of sight, or hide native

fruits,

one's

one

this

wander up and down the

"mich"

signifying to lurk

self.

all

our wild

question the most

without

bound up as it is with the history of childand hood, joy grief going hand in hand over the commemorated, moreover, in many a simple gathering;

interesting,

old verse: Their pretty lips with blackberries Were all besmeared and dy'd,

And when They

they saw the darksome night,

sat

them down and cry'd. The Children in the Wood. Ballads,

The

fruit

ii.,

Roxburghe

220.

may, perhaps, have been what Caliban promised

to find, I'll

pluck thee berries,

though it can hardly be the same which he tells us Prospero gave him in the beginning of his servitude :

When

thou cam'st

Thou strok'st me, and mad'st much Water with berries in it

first,

;

would'st give

;

And And show'd

thee

then

loved thee,

the qualities of the Cursed be I that did so all

isle,

What Shakspere is

intends in the latter passage by "berries"

an open question, met, so

jecture.

It is probable,

blackberries

when

far,

by no

satisfactory con-

however, that he really means

in the

Midsummer Nights Dream,

The Shakspere Flora.

236 iii.,

he mentions dewberries.

pleasant behest to the four

Be kind and courteous

Titania,

giving

her

says:

fairies, to this

gentleman ; and gambol in his eyes ; Feed him with apricocks and dewberries, in his walks,

Hop

With purple grapes, green The honey-bags steal from

figs,

and mulberries ;

the humble-bees,

And for night-tapers, crop their waxen thighs, And light them at the fiery glow-worm's eyes, To have my love to bed. For,

compared with the

that of the casius

and

eating,

would

insipid;

certainly

associate,

fruit

of the it

Rubus

fruticosus,

never collected for

would not be such as Titania

meaning

be a

treat,

with

figs

and

In Shakspere's time, moreover, the two names were used indifferently. Lyte, p. 66 1, describing the apricots.

says it "is called a dewberrie or blackberrie." " " Possibly, in the present instance, dewberry may have

ccesius,

been introduced as more euphonious. Shakspere could fail to be acquainted with it botanically, the large

hardly

round drupeolse being covered with a peculiar glaucous bloom, different altogether from the rich and jetty lustre of the blackberry ipsissima.

The

plant producing the genuine blackberry

men-

tioned

many times, either as the "bramble," or inclusively, in the large company of the "thorns." The former name occurs in Venus and Adonis, and in As You Like It, " There is a man hangs odes upon hawthorns, and elegies upon brambles" appears in the

(iii., 2).

Thorn, meaning the blackberry,

Midsummer

Night's Dream,

iii

The Wilderness. For also in

at their

the Sixth,

3rd Henry And

and thorns

briers

one

iii.,

lost in

237

apparel snatch

;

a thorny wood.

"thorns," however, in several other places,

to understand not so

much

are

brambles, or Rubi, as prickly

and spinous plants which grow underfoot, after the manner of the rest-harrow, Ononis spinosa, though there nothing in any passage upon which to base an exact " Thorns and identification, even were this important. is

thistles

present a sufficiently exact

and

vivid picture of

the plants said to be contemporaneous with the moral

declension of mankind:

The

To mow down Is

worthy

care you have of us,

thorns that would annoy our foot,

praise.

2nd King Henry

the Sixth,

iii.,

Another prickly wilderness plant appears in a line made famous by the amount of dispute it has given rise to. Shipwreck in progress "we split! we split !" and drowning imminent I give

"Now," says good old Gonzalo, "would a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren

The wills ground, long heath, brown furze, anything. above be done, but I would fain die a dry death" (Tempest, editors

i.,

i).

The

line is thus printed

deference to the

first

folio,

all

modern

1623, which is, It was suggested,

"long heath, browne firrs." " Oxford Editor," Sir Thos. Hanmer, however, by the

literatim,

1744, that the true reading would in

be,

that

"ling, is

say,

all

probability

broom, furze anything," anything, which means land, and not water, so

heath,

The Shakspere Flora.

238

we do not drown.

that

possessed that

genuine

critic,

intention

first

Hanmer, Dr. Johnson tells us, and most essential requisite of the

"the

intuition

by which

immediately discerned."

ingly, with excellent credentials,

has plenty to sustain

it,

and

the

poet's

comes, accord-

that his

undeniable.

judgment "

Ling

well-known provincial name for the beautiful wilderness undershrub, with innumerable glossy lilac flowers, comcalled heather, the Calluna vulgaris.

monly

different

from

the

genuine heaths,

It is

very

or Ericas, so that

no tautology in the introduction of the word, and Shakspere had very probably seen the plants in there

company, since the Calluna is a frequent associate of the no less lovely crimson heath, Erica cinerea, which if

"heath" means anything Sir

"Broom," assuming to

be well founded,

butterflies.

mean

will

here.

conjecture

the well-known shrub, rendered

conspicuous in early summer by

golden

all,

Thomas Hanmer's

Furze,

the

its

countless dishevelled

never bloomless,

the

and exhaling the odour of cocoaour country more profusely even than the

flowers of rival gold, nut,

grows in

Spartium.

the two extremes, heath,

possible that

and

brown furze?"

the truth

lies

between

that the reading should be, "ling,

The

great

objection,

both to

"brown," is that in an emergency so terrible Gonzalo would not be likely to employ epithets. He would just run over the names of the plants, and

"long" and

leave

adjectives

till

a happier time.

Sir

Thomas

Hanmer's interpretation be accepted as the most reason-

The Wilderness.

239

able one, the line in question, instead of adding only

two plants to the general catalogue, heath and make an addition of four.

furze,

will thus really

There is something better for us in the connection than the minute botany, the character of the "honest old counsellor of Naples" himself, the only man on board

who

moments preserved his cheerfulness, hope a mere coincidence

in those terrible

and nourished

his heart with

perhaps, but in any case

life

we cannot

had been one of virtue.

when Prospero was stood the thoughtful

forget

driven from his " friend in need."

innocent prattle and

that

Miranda, whose

sweet child-smiles had sustained

her father during their

first

sad years upon the desolate

island, "infused with a fortitude from heaven," light

she

shine through a very small window,

may

old enough to understand,

wrongs.

And

his

was Gonzalo who, home and country,

how, says she,

a great

now

that

told the story of their

came we ashore?"

PROSPERO By Providence divine. Some food we had, and some :

fresh water, that

noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, Out of his charity (who being then appointed Master of this design) did give us ; with

Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries since have steadied much. So of his gentleness, Knowing I loved my books, he furnished me, From my own library, with volumes that I prize above my dukedom. Tempest i., 2.

Which

Later on in the play, furze turns out to be nearer than

Gonzalo imagined.

Once upon

shore, his wish

would

The Shakspere Flora.

240 have been

gratified without

having given mischief-loving

and

his fellow-rascals for

far.

going very

little

Prospero,

Ariel charge of Caliban

punishment,

now

inquires what

has he done,

Where ARIEL

did'st

I told you, sir,

thou leave these varlets

they were red-hot with drinking.

Then I beat my tabor, At which, like unback'd colts, they pricked their ears, Advanced their eyelids, lifted up their noses, As they smelt music. So I charmed their ears That,

calf-like,

Toothed

Which

briers,

my lowing followed, through sharp furzes, pricking goss, and thorns,

they

entered their

I'the filthy

There dancing up

What a

frail shins.

last 1 left

mantled pool beyond your to the chins

them

cell,

subject for a comic picture

yet,

our

have hardly touched the edge of Shakspere, there

material enough in

Ariel's "pricking goss"

him

for galleries.

usually understood to be one

of the smaller kinds of furze, and

some have connected

the name, definitely, with the Genista Anglica. is

justification for this.

artists

though

The word

But there

but a varied form

of the low Latin gorra or gorassi, denoting brushwood in general.

It is

only in

modern times

that gorse has

been made a synonym of furze, and Shakspere in using Gorassi goss had certainly nothing specific in view.

when fuel

cut

down and

mentioned

in ist

dried

became

Henry

moment

bavin," the coarse

the Fourth,

metaphorical allusion to the

poor inane buffoons,

iii

in capital

amusement afforded by

easily got out of

them, over in a

The Wilderness. He With shallow

241

ambled up and down, and rash bavin wits,

jesters,

Soon kindled, and soon burned.

Rough and the

tall

tangled wilderness shrubs, with plenty of " commonly called bracken," Pteris

coarse fern

Aquilina, would constitute, as to-day, the Shaksperean " brake," such a one, for example, as when Demetrius

shows how cruel a

own

man can be

part loves fondly as

HELENA

Your

virtue

life

to a

woman who

for

her

privilege for that.

not night when I do see your face, Therefore I think I am not in the night ; It is

Nor does

this

For you,

Then how can

When DEMETRIUS And ;

all

wood

lack worlds of company,

respect, are all the world.

the world

said, I is

alone,

here to look on

me ?

run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts I'll

Midsummer Night's Dream,

The

ii.,

Aquilina, which often attains, in the wilderness

in woods, the stature of seven or eight feet,

and

would also

be the principal feature of the sylvan covert upon turf, where the keepers of the

the margin of the nibbled chase,

armed with

their crossbows, waited the

coming of

the deer:

Under this thick-grown brake we'll shroud ourselves, For through this laund anon the deer will come ;

And

in this covert will

we make our

stand.

3rd King Henry

the Sixth,

That the plant was named, like "heath," from its and not the habitat from the plant, has been

iii.,

habitat,

plainly

The Shakspere Flora.

242 certified

by the etymologists.

tioned, to

once

fern, since there is

hart

fill

quite legitimate,

when deer

nevertheless, in any such picture,

are

men-

the "brake," mentally, with the

nothing as

and roebuck take more

tall

as themselves in which

delight.

Bracken and the

dappled deer, when nature is allowed her own free way, Whenever on the frontiers of always imply one another.

some sweet green undulating down, where breath smells wooingly," a

little

the heavens'

forest of Aquilina

be descried, be sure the pretty creatures are not

may

far off.

other allusion to ferns, as growing plants, occurs

Even

in Shakspere.

one to the bracken (although

this

" brake" as a synonym of "female fern" ) can Lyte uses be claimed only as by implication. He mentions the

"seed," the brown spores cast from the spangles upon this, however, not as a botanical

the under-surface

one of the celebrated

object, but simply in reference to

old mediaeval superstitions. ness, itself almost invisible,

seed,

Being of impalpable minuteto be dusted over with fern-

" according to the doctrine of Signatures," gave

absolute invisibility,

We have

the receipt of fern-seed ist

The "

receipt,"

called,

;

we walk

King Henry

literature,

met with

Allusions to

contemporaneous

we come upon certificate Old Turner (1562) speaks of

but never once do

that the belief collecting

ii.,

was the formula of magic

words to be employed during the process. the superstition are often

invisible,

the Fourth,

sound

from the fronds of the

shield-fern,

comparing

The Wilderness. the

slaty-purple

lids,

indusia,

243

before

they

have

Seed, he adds, hath also

to curl, to poppy-seeds.

begun been found upon "brakes," on "midsomer even." The sporiferous braid which runs round every leaflet of the not in perfection till several weeks later in we must conclude that there is here a

pteris

the season, so

of the

infusion

little

came

magic dust

fable,

largely of

since its

efficacy of the

the

being gathered during

those lovely hours which offer a hand alike to sunset

and

to Aurora.

The

Never, in the sylvan wilderness, do the eyes

Ivy.

upon a spectacle more delightful than that of the aspiring "ivy green," as it creeps up trunk and branch, rest

till,

overweighted with

own

its

wealth,

over in

rolls

those sumptuous and swelling masses, the very perfection of perennial chiaroscuro, which bear the golden spheres

of honeyed bloom, and seem emblems of immortality.

How

beautiful, too, that

embrace of

little

younger

shoots

set forth in

life

the

that sport in all sweet

shades of amber and ruddy bronze. Shakspere mentions In Midsummer three occasions. the Night's ivy upon

Dream,

iv.,

associated with the honeysuckle of

the woodlands, as an

TITAN I A

emblem of tender

Sleep thou, and

Fairies, begone,

I will

and be

So doth the woodbine

all

wind thee

affection in

arms.

ways away.

the sweet honeysuckle

the female ivy so Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.

Gently entwist

'Female"

an epithet adopted from the early botanical

The Shakspere Flora.

244

who, imitating the herbalists of ancient Greece, bestowed it upon the flower and fruit-bearing inwriters,

dividuals of

there

many

different

species of plants in which

real distinction of sex, but

or given

individually barren,

duction of leaves.

them wild

Plenty of plants

England,

count,

summate than

the

With

lily,

and the

truly

however,

these,

pro-

many and

really

structure being

that of the

the

exist,

which are

illustrative of difference of sex.

ivy does not

which are often

exclusively

less

con-

So long

rose.

as the idea prevailed that leaves without flowers implied

distinguished from feminine

masculine, as

nature, ivy

might well be regarded as male and female for it is the custom of this ambitious plant never to produce flowers

and

up which

but

quite sterile.

leafy,

rolling as forth,

still it

However

berries while ascending.

vertical surface

runs,

Not

lofty the

goes, onwards,

until disengaged,

and

were into space, does the inflorescence come

and then

developed, usually, in profusion.

This very interesting change

accompanied by a change

They cease to be three or five angled, and all the new ones become more or less At the first blush it seems oval and acutely pointed. in the outline of the leaves.

most surely a designate

different

when

kind of plant, and to deem

in this ripe

and

it,

and

prolific condition, the

"female ivy," was in the infancy of botanical science

most

natural,

In the

though erroneous.

Comedy of Errors,

"usurping ivy:"

ii.,

Adriana

calls

The Wilderness. from me,

If aught possess thee

Usurping

Who

all,

moss, for want of pruning, with intrusion

and

live

on thy confusion.

the citation, excellent in

the ivy believe

interloper,

hurtful

dross,

ivy, brier, or idle

Infect thy sap,

Here

it is

245

and a

its

way,

metaphorical;

and Adriana would have us She continues,

spoiler besides.

The time was once when That That That That

thou, unurged, wouldst never words were music to thine ear,

vow

never object pleasing in thine eye, never touch well-welcome to thy hand,

never meat sweet-savour'd in thy taste Unless I spake, look'd, touch'd, or carved to thee.

How comes it now, my husband, oh, how comes That thou art then estranged from thyself? Ivy

again introduced in the Tempest,

figure for ingratitude.

Prospero conduct of his brother Sebastian

ivy which

And

sucked

In both these

had hid

now

was

princely trunk, verdure out on't.

latter passages

Shakspere adopted the idea

of his time (quite as natural of

its

kind, as that of the

berried plant being "female"), that ivy both feeds

the tree up which

upon the Ivy root

is is

sap.

upon

clambers, and operates injuriously

Neither idea has any real foundation. It is not even an epiphyte. The

not a parasite.

in the ground,

and

like all other leafy climbing

plants of temperate countries,

from the injury

as a

describing the wicked

He The

L, 2,

soil

done

obtains

its

nourishment

and the enveloping atmosphere. to a tree (and this

When

happens only to weakly

The Shakspere Flora.

246

and exceptional being too

much

individuals), the hurt

the rain, and the sunshine.

air,

comes of the

tree

shut in from the beneficent action of the

Old

trees observed to

be dead or dying in the midst of masses of in all likelihood beginning to

ivy,

were

die while the ivy about

them was

still quite young, and would have died independently of it. The ascent of the ivy up such trees would be the same as up an old wall.

Ivy, in ancient times,

"hedera

Bacchus

was one of the plants dedicated est

The

gratissima Baccho."

ground of the consecration was that when the child lay in his cradle, an object of vengeance with Juno, the

Homer of Nisa concealed him with ivy trails. bestows on him the epithet of " ivy-tressed." Not that ivy was purely the god's own. When Calliope, lyre in hand, nymphs

sang that charming ode in praise of Ceres, she had her bound with a sprig of the same beautiful evergreen.

hair

The

dedication

Bacchus

mentioned also

the

Second Book of Maccabees, where, when the temple

desecrated, the Jews are compelled to go in procession,

carrying

KKT<TOQ.

Hence,

in the

middle ages,

became

customary with the owners of inns and taverns to hang a small bough of ivy over the entrance, by way of invitation to the thirsty traveller.

References to

this

custom

appear frequently in old authors, though not earlier, A very curious and distinct perhaps, than in Chaucer. allusion to

slation of the

occurs in the preface to the Latin tran-

famous old German History of Plants by

Hieronimus Tragus, published in

1532.

The Latin

The Wilderness. by David Kyber, appeared

version,

says Kyber,

may

to descant

247

in 1552.

It is usual,

upon the merits of an author one But in the present instance we

edit or translate.

from doing so, partly because this is already done by another hand (Conrad Gesner's) in the Intro-

shall refrain

because,

duction; partly proverb,

Good wine

according

the

requires no suspended

common

ivy."

Very

naturally, the descriptive portion of the original proverb,

whatever

was, would abbreviate itself into the smallest " needs

Good wine becoming at last no bush," as cited by Rosalind in the charming Epilogue to As You Like It:

possible compass,

ROSALIND it is

It is

not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue; but If it to see the lord the prologue.

no more unhandsome than

be true that good wine needs no bush, 'tis true that a good play needs no epilogue ; yet to good wine they do use good bushes, and good plays prove the better by the help of good epilogues. What a case

I in then,

that

like a beggar, therefore to

good epilogue nor cannot I am not furnished good play not become me my way is to

neither a

insinuate with you in the behalf of a

beg

will

conjure you; and I'll begin with the women. women, for the love you bear to men, to like as

charge you,

much

of this play as men, for the love you bear to pleases you: and I charge you, women as I perceive by your simpering, none of you hates them

you and the women the play may please. If I were a would kiss as many of you as had beards that pleased me, complexions that liked me, and breaths that I defied not: and, I am sure, as many as have good beards or good faces or sweet that between

woman

breaths will, for

kind

offer,

when

make

curtsy,

bid

farewell.

The name

"The Bush"

from English taverns.

has not even yet disappeared

The Shakspere Flora.

248 The

Winters Tale,

allusion in the

scared away two of

in., 3,

"They have

my anywhere I find by the sea-side, browsing on ivy," is not really Shakspere's, and applies to some quite different plant. them

'tis

The

phrase

the novel in

best sheep;

palpably taken from Greene's Pandosto,

upon which the play was

which we have

sheepheard

partly founded,

and

"It fortuned a poore mercenary

missed one of his sheepe, and

wandered downe toward the sea

cliffes to

see

perchaunce

the sheepe was browsing on the sea ivy, whereon they greatly

doe feede,"

here intended. the sea

Ivy

etc. is

Something very palatable is so. That ivy occurs near

not

quite true, but

under no circumstances can

be considered a maritime plant, and Greene must have been thinking of one to which sheep incline. The it

original Pandosto Tale, Shakspere's

was published in 1588; the Winter's complete play, was written in 1611,

last

five years only before the poet's death.

the allusion to sea ivy was derived,

be relegated

to the

list,

Seeing whence

may

thus at once

not very short, of Shaksperean

no play showing less regard to accuracy in respect of time and geography, than the Winter's Tale itself. We are in no wise required to demur to these anachronisms

anachronisms; with them.

much

less are

Unpardonable

called

upon

to quarrel

in actual history, anachron-

isms, in the ideal, count with the very slightest of blemishes.

The The their

ideal

always young and

tied to

locality.

may always be known by emerald wings, such as render them independent of

poets rightfully so called

The Wilderness. epoch and country.

In the

249 we seem

Tale

Winter's

seated upon the soft turf of some beautiful seclusion. Here the fascinating grace of Shakspere's youth "shakes

hands with the thoughtfulness of

his

"The

mature age."

golden glow of his genius," says Mr. Furnivall, "is over it;

the sweet country air

men can

all

through

Hermione ennoble, men's minds and its

purpose,

...

think, shall Perdita brighten

lesson,

lives

...

for them; to give the sinner time and amend, not to cut him off in his sin."

The

Mistletoe.

Its

to teach forgiveness of wrongs, not

vengeance

unlike

Mistletoe,

parasite, fixing itself

As long

and sweeten,

ivy,

upon the branches of

to repent

a genuine

trees of very

various kinds, twenty different ones at least, in England

though upon the oak, with which tradition so

alone,

closely connects the plant,

examples

at the present

The

fingers.

Shakspere

(if

the lines be really his)

with the wilderness, where mistletoe occurs

frequently, seated

upon hawthorns.

the Goths, says in Titus Andronicus,

Have

Tamora, Queen of ii.,

look pale ? hither to this place, barren, detested vale you see it is ; I not reason, think you, to

These two have

The known

favourite haunts of this curious plant are

apple-orchards.

connects

very seldom.

day can be counted upon the

'ticed

The

trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, O'ercome with moss, and baleful mistletoe.

Moss.

Moss

mentioned

in three other places as

inhabitant of the bark of decrepit trees

The Shakspere Flora.

250

Under an oak whose boughs were moss'd with As You Like

age. It, iv., 3.

It appears also in ist Henry the Fourth, iii., i, as an occupant of the walls of ancient and ruinous buildings, Steeples and moss-grown towers.

With Shakspere the name denoted, as with poets, not merely the

Musci by the

but the

These

spicuous kinds of lichen.

other

green-leaved plants called

little

botanists,

all

commoner and conlast quite as

frequently

drape the branches of aged foresters with their curiously tufted grey filaments; crispy, stains,

still

oftener in their horizontal,

and lace-edged kinds, confer those beautiful timeboth grey and yellow, upon broken arch and

mouldering artist,

and

turret,

test

which catch the eye of the

the ingenuity of his

pencil.

tasteful

the

minute observer they are unfailing objects of delicate Their crowds of pretty cups "make glad the pleasure. solitary

place,"

and

nature has festivals for

in all

winter particularly, show that seasons.

The

green-leaved or

mosses chiefly observed by Shakspere, would be species of the large and varied genus Hypnum, especially the rutabuhim and the shining sericeum, though true

one place he alludes more particularly to the elegant furry cushions formed by others of this most

little

pleasing race of nature's minims.

With While summer I'll

lasts,

fairest flowers,

and

I live here, Fidele,

sweeten thy sad grave.

The

Thou

shalt not lack

flower that's like thy face, pale primrose ; nor

The Wilderness. The The

251

azured harebell, like thy veins ; no, nor leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander

The ruddock would

Outsweeten'd not thy breath.

With

charitable bill

bill

sore

shaming Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie Without a monument) bring thee all this, Cymbeline, iv., Yea, and furred moss besides. !

Imogen deserves in

How Men

in Shakspere.

beautiful, too, the introduction of the little bird failing in their duty, the

forget,

Not

A more loveable character is found

She discloses herself, once for u assuming while persecuted, the name of Fidele."

nowhere all,

all.

perhaps

even be

ruddock

the

first,

that the pretty superstition

at least

would not

scatter

flowers.

of date no remoter

than the Shaksperean age, for although fastened to the robin, perhaps not so very long before, kindly bird-work

of this general nature was believed in quite fifteen cen-

Horace

turies antecedently.

tells

us that straying

away

from home when a boy, and lying asleep in the wilds, he was covered with leaves by the wood-pigeons (Carm. With Shakspere, nevertheless, it becomes new. iii., 4).

There are many things in objective nature, as well as in the realm of poetry, which are at once curiously old and Look,

delightfully young. little

for instance, at those

sylvan equiseta, with their

plant-forms not so

they existed in

much

crowds of

cupolas of green, of to-day as of the times when

company with

many

sigillarias

and lepidodendra,

and the thousand other quaint antediluvians one sees the museums.

The concluding

line

this

Cymbeline passage

The Shakspere Flora.

252 printed in the full

first

folio,

1623, as above given, with a

stop at "besides," Yea, and furr'd moss besides.

Then

resuming,

When To

flowers are none,

winter-ground thy corse

But in modern reprints the punctuation has been altered to Yea, and furred moss besides, when flowers are none,

winter-ground thy corse.

seems to have been thought that Shakspere meant But surely, that the same birds would go on in winter. It

by Mr. Hunter, it is Arviragus. " with while telling what he will do gus begins as pointed out

lasts."

Then he

time of

frost

about to say what he

and snow.

intends

gardeners when they "winter-ground" tender plants with

him

the

flowers are none,

winter-ground thy corse

(I'll)

him proceed

;

short with

And do Which

So much

in the

their particularly

Guiderius, however, breaks in ; will not let stops

imitate

litter,

When To

will

Arvira-

summer

Pr'ythee have done, not play in wench-like words with that is

so serious.

for the sense

more sweet

and the proper

poetry, one

stops.

inclined, for the

Expecting

moment,

be vexed by the interruption, especially as Guiderius Let be. Shakcares to talk only about the funeral.

The Wilderness. knew what he was

spere

253

We may

doing.

thank him for

reminding us, as in a thousand other places, that the best

and

truest sentiment

always that which flows forward

into the faithful performance of the prosaic duties of itself in

life;

and

that sentiment

which

and

fails

practical

to express

sound personal conduct, is like religion without Sentiment and the practical

charity, a tinkling cymbal.

are

not,

many people

think,

The

antagonistic.

happiest conjugal unions ever witnessed in the world are those in which common-sense has for its partner the cheerful abundance of a serene imagination.

"Who

can read," Mr. Hunter remarks, the words conown volume, "Who can read this beautiful

cluding his

though

scene,

may be

without taking from feeling

who,

most deeply

hundredth

the

grateful to the

in the treasures of song,

much

for

time,

the most sensible pleasure,

men

and

of other days

have sent down to us so

that administers such high

and innocent delight

They have been the great and generous benefactors of their gifts with an unsparing and an hand, equal strewing them in the humblest cottage, and

mankind, scattering

laying

them before princes

in their gorgeous palaces;

worthy are they in turn to receive

all

and

honour, for the

for them is no equivalent for the extensive and enduring benefits which they have I have in this work scattered conferred upon their kind.

utmost that can be done

few flowers

upon the grave *

New

Illustrations,

ii.,

one

301.

them."*

The Shakspere Flora.

254

Guiderius' desire that sentiment shall not excuse neglect is another of the Shaksperean ways of what the master never forgets the great

of the practical, illustrating

law of nature that trouble shall always be in some way compensated; that no year shall be altogether dreary: The time

will bring

When briers shall have leaves And be as sweet as sharp

on summer,

as well as thorns,

;

human experience shall never be far a very ancient story, no doubt, but always open

that contraries in

asunder

the master to new and impressive illustration, since he never forgets either that behind the sweetest and most

joyous things of earth there

always an undertone of

sadness, waiting the opportunity to express

which

quite as

it is

and deal

with.

much

This

his

bounden duty

why, in almost

all

itself,

and

to recognise

the greatest

of Shakspere's works, as in Homer, we have interfusion, so skilful, of the bright and cheery with the grave and

solemn, of fun and playfulness with the philosophic, and in

tragedies, amid agony and blood, or the even the comic and the humorous. How

most of the

thirst for

it,

admirably, in the Merchant of Venice, are the stern and features of the scene in the judgment hall

terrible

relieved by those of the garden at Belmont:

SHYLOCK

The pound

So do I answer you ! demand of him, mine, and I will have it.

of flesh, which I

Is dearly bought, is

you deny me, fie upon your law There is no force in the decrees of Venice. If

I stand for

judgment

answer, shall I have

it ?

The Wilderness. GRATIANO

255

be thou cursed, inexorable dog

The moon

shines bright.

In such a night as

this,

When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees, And they did make no noise in such a night, :

Troilus, methinks,

mounted the Trojan

walls,

And

sighed his soul toward the Grecian tents, Where Cressid lay that night.

In Hamlet,

after the

same manner, we turn from crime,

and madness, and the intensest pathos,

to the mirthful

chat of the old grave-diggers in the churchyard.

Macbeth, before the horrors begin, the mind

pleased,

measure invigorated, as if from some fragrant and sustaining wine-cup, by what is perhaps the loveliest picture of natural repose in the whole of our immortal poet:

and

in a

DUNCAN

This castle hath a pleasant seat; the

Nimbly and sweetly recommends Unto our gentle senses.

BANQUO

air

itself

This guest of summer,

The temple-haunting martlet, doth approve By his lov'd mansionry, that the heavens' breath Smells wooingly here; no jutty, frieze, or buttress, coigne of vantage, but this bird hath made

Nor

His pendent bed, and procreant cradle where they Most breed and haunt, I have observed, the air :

Is delicate.

Fairy-rings.

(i.,

Upon

6.)

out-of-the-way green rural surfaces

sunward slopes where the turf is short, and inlaid with eyebright and other bijouterie there are very commonly seen broad dark feet to

many

poetry and

circles,

yards.

varying in diameter from a few

These are the "

fairy-rings

alike of

science, which when talking of them, does not

The Shakspere Flora.

256

disdain the language of fable.

They

are referable, as

before stated, to the centrifugal growth of certain fungi of the agaricus or mushroom type, though, according to Prof.

Buckman, by no means always dependent upon In the Elizabethan age, when

fungi for the initiative.

"fungi" and "mushrooms" meant the same pretty circles were believed to indicate,

thing, these

when discovered

at sunrise, the spots where, the night before, the fairies

had been dancing; thus of their

full

references to them.

have been formed, at once,

Shakspere has several beautiful

dimensions.

First, in the

invocation of the spirits

by Prospero, one of the most exquisite minglings of veritable nature and the unreal to be found anywhere in his

works

Ye elves of hills, brooks, And ye that on the sands

Do chase When he

standing lakes, and groves, with printless foot

the ebbing Neptune, and do fly

him

comes back you demi-puppets, that By moonshine do the greensome ringlets make Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime Is to make midnight mushrooms. :

" Whereof the ewe not bites"

acceptance of another popular fancy of the time, sheep having in reality no objection to eat the grass marked by the rings in is

"Greensome," again, almost always printed "green sour," is surely the epithet intended. "Green " So doubtful is the sour is by no means Shaksperean. question.

some have proposed "Greensome" has parallels

authenticity, that

sward."

"gladsome," "lightsome," and

fifty

to read "greenin

besides.

"winsome,"

The Wilderness. Then comes Night's Dream,

257

the charming couplet in the ii.,

Midsummer

And I serve the Fairy Queen, To dew her orbs upon the green, to moisten them, that

is,

with dew, after they have been

worn dry by the tripping of the little dancers; then in the Merry Wives v., 5, the queen's own personal injunction to her maids to

be sure they take

ment

and the company, one and

full

all,

vocal part in the entertain-

And, Like

nightly, meadow-fairies, look

The expressure that it bears, green More fertile fresh than all the field

The "Garter"

here referred to

identified with the legend of

"Field"

you sing

to the Garter's compass, in a ring;

also to

Honi

let it be,

to see.

the famous badge

soit

qul

mal y

pense.

be understood as involving an heraldic

allusion, the "field" being, in armory, the surface

upon

which the "charges" are depicted. Reeds and Rushes. Reeds, the emblem, from time immemorial, of weakness and imbecility, in Shakspere take their old accustomed place, mention being made of in Antony and Cleopatra, ii., 7; Cymbeline, iv., 2; and very elegantly in ist Henry the Fourth, L, 3, where we have the hand-to-hand combat of Mortimer and

them

" great

Glendower"

Three times they breathed, and three times did they drink

Upon

Who S

agreement, of swift Severn's flood, then, affrighted with their bloody looks,

The Shakspere Flora.

258 Ran

fearfully

And

hid his crisp head in the hollow bank.

among

the trembling reeds,

moment

This beautiful river has a

before been called

Now, by a rich personification,

"gentle."

manner of the

Hebrews, when they spoke

after

the

of the laugh-

ing and singing of the cornfields, the reeds upon the

banks partake of the dismay of the stream and shiver anew. The description is one of those so frequent in Shakspere which we do not so transfigure into

forms of

life

and

the master

art,

much

read as mentally

In the highest his awaken-

visible action.

always known by

ing a higher consciousness than the one immediately addressed.

"Reed"

being a generic or collective term, no particular species can be insisted upon either in this or

But we

any other passage. Shakspere's reed as

that

Arundo Phragmites,

largest

shall

tall

not err in thinking of

and elegant

and most

plant,

tropical

the

looking

of the English grasses, and familiar in its impurpled and downy plumes, the ornament of the marshes throughout the

fall

of the year, the

ence in the Tempest,

v.,

i.,

particularly since the refer-

to the use of the reed for

thatch* points to this plant almost definitely, Portia's words,

Merchant of

Venice,

And

speak, between the change of With a reed voice,

iii.,

man and

boy,

refer to the shrillness of tone characteristic of that period *

After the

stipulis et

manner of old Baucis and Philemon's

canna

tectd palustri.

Met. ,

viii.

630.

cottage

The Wilderness. of

life,

259

image of the whistled melody of the most ancient

of musical instruments, shaped, quite possibly, from the

Phragmites; in any case, from the as well as

stately

more serviceable

still

Donax.

Pan Sweet, sweet, sweet, Piercing sweet by the river. !

Apart from the beauty of the myth of the origin of the musical pipe, the incident of the employment of

first

the reed for

ing in

its

manufacture

literal history,

one of the most

since in this

find the

interestfirst

step

towards the glorious Organ of to-day. Complex as now, the organ began with the discovery that air

may

be forced into a closed

and ings,

cavity, such as that of the reed,

then, with ingenuity,

be forced

out.

but virtually this

and by means of

Poetry

it is

just

tells

the tale in

lateral

open-

own way,

its

what happened one summer's

eve in old Arcadia.

Rushes are cited

in various association.

In two or

three out of the total of sixteen passages in which the

word

they appear after the same manner as

occurs,

reeds, or as

emblems of

instability

Our

Which

yet

seem

shut,

we have

They'll open of themselves.

and

trifles:

gates,

but pinned with rushes ;

Coriolanus,

i.,

In one instance (All's Well, ii., 2) there is an allusion to the scandalous mediaeval custom of marrying, or rather

In pretending to marry, with a ring made of a rush. wicks for the candles another, they supply (Taming of

Shrew

iv.,

;

the remainder bear

chiefly

upon the

The Shakspere Flora.

260

employment of rushes, before the introduction of carpets, for

upon the

strewing

rank,

practice

houses of people of

floors of the

frequently mentioned

very

authors, as in the piteous description of the

queen

Edward

IV.

Elizabeth

(nee

old

unhappy

Woodville),

when news was brought her of the monarch's death: "She sat alow (alone) on the rushes, all desolate and dismayed." Grumio, when he asks, "Is supper ready?" adds, ist

"are the rushes strewed?" the Fourth,

Henry

iii.,

(Ibid,

iv.,

i).

made by

the lady's Welsh,

her tongue and " swelling heavens," Sweet is

as ditties highly penned,

translated for Mortimer,

She bids you,

Upon the wanton rushes lay you down, And rest your gentle head upon her lap, And she will sing the song that pleaseth you And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep, Charming your blood with pleasing

heaviness.

In the Rape of Lucrece, and in Cymbeline, spere adverts to the vile incident in the

which deservedly

lost

him

his

Did

softly press the rushes ere

The

chastity

places before us, in

thus

he wakened

the most vivid manner,

when

old

Rome had

the luxury of the empire not arriving for

anticipated

There in

this

Shak-

of Tarquin

he wounded.

the simplicity of the times

afterwards.

ii.,

life

kingdom,

Our Tarquin

Here he

;

no evidence

matter

that

by ancient

kings,

many

ages

England was

Rome.

The

The Wilderness. practice, nevertheless,

Theocritus

(xiii.),

was of

when

261 In

indefinitely early date.

Argonauts have gone on

the

shore in the land of the Cyanians, and the nymphs,

enamoured,

steal

Hylas from

his

companions, the

sailors

are described as strewing the floor with the leaves of the

butomus

not the plant so called to-day, but some large That in the fourteenth

carex or cyperaceous plant.

century the custom was continental, allusions in Froissart. it

in their

word

The

proved by the

early Italian authors refer to

giuncare.

The rushes thus employed are intended also by Shakspere, by implication, when the presence-chamber, or briefly,

the

"presence"

said to

be strewed.

example, addressed to an individual, but, like everything else noble and good in

those admirable lines,

for

when John o' Gaunt, "time-honoured Lancaster," reminds us that sunshine

Shakspere, intended for everybody,

the command of every one, and that happiness not a wonderful diamond, to be sought afar off, but the multiplying and creative power of a thankful is

heart;

All places that the eye of heaven visits, Are, to a wise man, ports and happy havens.

Look, what thy soul holds dear. Imagine it To lie the way thou go'st, not whence thou cam'st

Suppose the singing birds musicians

;

The grass whereon thou tread 'st, the presence strewed The flowers, fair ladies and thy steps no more Than a delightful measure, or a dance; ;

;

The Shakspere Flora.

262

For gnarling sorrow hath less power to bite that mocks at it, and sets it light. King Richard the Second,

The man

i.,

The kinds of rush employed would be ordinarily the common junci of rough waste land. Bulleyn says somewhat

definitely,

good

"Rushes

grow upon drie grounds be Chambers, and Galleries to

that

to strewe in Halles,

walke upon, defendyng apparell (as traines of gownes and kertles) from duste." "Rushes," he quaintly adds,

"be olde

Courtiers; and when they be nothing worthe, then they be caste out of the doores. So be many that

dooe tread upon them." But though "drie ground" may have had the preference, we cannot suppose

rushes

neglect of the abounding denizens of the watery hollow,

the Juncus effusus and the pink flos-cuculi

its

also of the

bulrush, Scirpus lacustris,

of the cinnamon-rush

when

spongy

and perhaps sweet-flag,

sweet-scented rush,"

always used

always so friendly with

Use

and the ivory meadow-sweet.

would probably be made

"The

allies,

says

Mr.

stalks of the

some

Acorus

extent,

Calamus.

Ellacombe,

was

could be procured.

1829, and Dr. Lindley, in

Loudon, in 1833, make the same state-

ment, to which the Rev.

C. A. Johns adds, in his Flowers of the Field, that "as it did not grow near London, but had to be fetched, at great expense, from

Norfolk and Suffolk, one of the charges of extravagance Wolsey was that he caused his floors to

against Cardinal

be strewed with rushes too frequently." they were,

much

The

fresher

of course the cleaner and more

Vrjwn SItcHed byTK,

The Wilderness. pleasant, especially for guests,

honour with new ones Where

whom

this stranger ?

Poor Wolsey, the end not him.

was customary to

Rushes, ladies, rushes,

Rushes as green as summer

though

263

for this stranger.

less majestic

than the reign,

how much England owes to Henry VIIL, endeavour was made

never forget

faultful,

When, temp.

to introduce the language of ancient Greece into the Universities,

was met

Erasmus' Greek

sition.

by the most furious oppoTestament (the first of its

New

kind) was denounced and reviled.

and Wolsey we may thank

rescue,

Wolsey came to the for giving to Greek

the splendid anchorage in England which was never afterwards

interfered

with.

Erasmus himself bears

eloquent testimony to Wolsey's merits

in the matter.

"Learning," he says, "as yet struggling with the patrons of the ancient ignorance, he upheld by his favour,

defended by his authority, adorned by his splendour, and cherished by his kindness."

The

authorities as to the use of the acorus stand high.

There

plant

little misgiving over it, nevertheless, since the not mentioned in the old herbals as a wild

English

one,

common

be observed the

man

and

England

would seem not

have become

until after the Restoration.

also, that neither

Shakspere,

It is to

who was not

to miss anything characteristic, nor

any of

his

contemporaries, ever speak of their rushes as odoriferous,

not even when used like Romeo's, for the floors of

dancing saloons

The Shakspere Flora.

264

Let wantons, light of heart, Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels.

Botanically regarded, a plant exist. it

are

The

fair lady. tall,

iv.)

interesting does not

margin of ponds, to reach not easy faint heart never

just within the

Growing

without wetting the feet

won

(i.,

vertical,

along one edge.

leaves,

flat,

which come up in crowds,

and curiously crimped

narrow,

The

flowers,

borne upon stems of

similar figure, constitute curious lateral tapering cones,

not very unlike the spires of churches; the colour a pretty greenish-brown; the surface covered with minute

golden mosaic. "

Sedge, a term

Sedges."

Shakspere's

altered

little

from the Anglo-Saxon, must be understood as denoting in poetry any hard and wiry vegetation that may border These are the natural haunts the pool or the river-side. of the larger English species of botanical

dozen perhaps in

turn,

Hence,

all,

by various in

make

birds,

Much Ado,

allusions

ii.,

now

the

sedge-warbler

wit.

will

show how

beautiful pictures

The

sedge," a

and which are themselves haunted,

Alas, poor hurt fowl ;

Four other

he creep into sedges. easily the

word can help

gentle Severn's sedgy bank. ist

You nymphs,

called naiads, of the

Henry

the Fourth,

winding brooks,

With your sedged crowns, and ever-harmless

looks.

Tempest,

iv.,

The Wilderness. And

Cytherea,

Which seem

all in

265

sedges hid,

move and wanton with her

Taming of

breath.

the Shrew.

The current that with gentle murmur glides, Thou know'st, being stopped, impatiently doth But when his fair course is not hindered,

He makes

Introd.

rage.

sweet music with the enamelled stones,

Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge

overtaketh in his pilgrimage

And

With

;

by many winding nooks he

Two "

strays

willing sport, to the wild ocean.

Pilgrimage

Gentlemen of Verona,

ii.,

perfect, the idea being that the trickle

its Jerusalem or Mecca from never thenceforward wavers, is faithful to the end.

on the mountain-side sees afar,

There are a few Shaksperean occupants yet of the In the Merry Wives, v., 5,

wilderness and the wayside. of "

mention the

made

bilberries," the violet-black fruit of

common upon the moorand more usually called whortleberries. Staining

Vaccinium Myrtillus, so

lands,

the lips with a deep purplish-blue

when eaten

they supply an apt colour comparison. very naturally contracted into hurtle. the deep blue roundlets occasionally

the

name

in quantity,

Whortle was

Hence, in heraldry, met with received

of hurtes, just as the green roundlets were

designated pommes.

In the Tempest, ii., 2, where odious Caliban becomes a moment endurable, the earth-chestnut is adverted

for

to: I,

with

long

nails, will

dig thee pig-nuts.

Shakspere here again gives preference to the less usual,

The Shakspere Flora.

266

though quite as suitable English name of that very pretty

and

plant, the Bunium flexuosum of the In England, in its way, the pignut is unique. portion reminds one of hemlock, of which,

interesting

botanists.

The

aerial

indeed, this plant

The

pendulous.

and

in miniature,

fro in the

usual height of the stem surface of the

most curiously

till

There

had learned

in his

ground

no pulling

boyhood

up by

of pleasant nutty force.

Henry

schoolboys' the Fourth,

plant 4,

ii.,

noses with speargrass to

Shakspere is

Writing the

a boy over again. Say rather that the in spirit never ceases to be a boy.

ist

fifteen

bends to and

that the pignut

by patience and perseverance.

Another

about

manner, diminishing in at last we reach the round

hard, and

nut, white inside,

flavour.

irregular

thickness at every turn,

brown

only that every part

ally,

that the umbels, before blooming, are

Below the

inches.

a near

line,

man

alone

he was

of genius

intended in

plainly

"Yea, and to

make them

won

tickle

bleed."

our

Whether

the allusion be to the green needles of the horsetail, or to the feathered leaves of the common milfoil, Achillea Millefolium, by Lyte called "nose-bleed," to

be In

a point yet

settled. i.,

3 of the

same play there seems

be an allusion

to the "shepherd's purse," Capsella Bursa-pastoris :

My liege,

I did

deny no

But, I remember,

When

when

was dry with

prisoners.

the fight was done,

rage,

and extreme

toil,

Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dressed,

The Wilderness.

267

Fresh as a bridegroom.

He made me mad To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman, Of guns, and drums, and wounds (God save the mark) And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth Was parmaceti, for an inward bruise.

The immediate

reference here

to spermaceti, in the

Shaksperean times a famous remedy for hurts. capsella had a

similar reputation

Crete Herbal,

"when drunk, Hence it

part of the body."

But the

"the juice," says the

staieth bleeding in

got the

name

any

"Poor

man's Parmaceti," with involved equivocal allusion to the poor man's queen of medicines, the well replenished purse.

The common duckmeat the

little

or duckweed,

roofs all rustic stagnant waters,

Lear,

iii.,

minor,

i.,

introduced in

King

"the green mantle of the stagnant pool."

The "vagabond Cleopatra

Lemna

plant of the thousand green spangles, which

flag

upon the stream," of Antony and

means, probably, the surface plants in

general of slow waters, or such as with changing conThe leaf of the common ditions, glide to and fro. plantain, Plantago major, anciently reputed

broken

shin, is referred to in Love's

/<nd in Romeo and Juliet,

When,

i.,

for iii.,

a i,

however, in Troilus

and

Cressida,

have As

good

Labour's Lost,

true as steel, as plantage to the

moon

iii.,

268

The Shakspere Flora.

no reference

The word

intended to the plantago in particular.

here a kind of synonym of "herbage,"

denoting vegetation in general, the mysterious lunar upon so large a portion of which, with a sort of

influence

reciprocal fealty to the

constantly crops up ages.

moon on

the part of the plant,

in the superstitions of the

middle

Chapter THE MARKET-PLACE AND THE SHOPS. We,

ignorant of ourselves,

Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers Deny us for our good so find we profit, By losing of our prayers. Antony and Cleopatra, ;

with

the cultivated fruits and the

all

commonly

cultivated esculent

mentioned

considerable sold in the

some

ii.,

Shakspere,

number of

plant

vegetables

with

products

market-place and the shops,

for food, others for medicinal use, others again to

subserve various economic

purposes.

The

allusions

very seldom carry with them anything either poetical or inviting, except in so far as they are facetious;

and here

let

the most distasteful of

humorous or

us not forget that to Shakspere all

men, not criminal, was that

The Shakspere Flora.

270 one who

after incapacity for delight in

and laugh

laugh,

heartily.

music,* could not

That these humorous and

facetious allusions should occur

thus quite in keeping

with the genial and stimulating humanity of Shakspere. Without them, the plays would not have shown him

and we should have lacked a great portion of the delightful influence which, whether it makes us laugh, truly,

or weep,

or meditate,

is still,

way, inestimable.

its

Shakspere's best characters are in every instance joyous themselves, and most of

and perhaps

it is

them

are able to be merry

in the degree that

ourselves to those matchless creations that scale of existence

all

fears

God and

many

cases, its

CAESAR

nature of

upon

enough to quote the passage, or

position in the drama. Let

The

unnecessary to dwell

they so often speak for themselves that,

at length;

indicate

rise in the

identical with that of the

obeys His law.

these references renders

them

not forgetting that the central feature

those best characters

man who

me have men

about

Very

interesting light

that are fat

;

Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights. Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look.

thinks too

much

;

such

He As thou

;

strive to assimilate

men

loves

are dangerous.

plays,

Antony he hears no music. Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort As if he mock'd himself, and scorned his spirit, That could be moved to smile at anything. Such men as he be never at heart's ease, dost,

Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,

And therefore are they very dangerous.

Julius Ccesar, L,

The Shops. is

thrown by the various citations upon the market busi-

ness of the time, and

more upon the

still

early history of

English commerce, so far as regards articles imported.

The

trade carried on by the original English merchants

would

chiefly

Mediterranean,

and the

with

Levant.

the

those,

maritime

particular,

need

cities

Spain,

the

Italy,

think only of Antonio

and Bassanio, of unrelenting Shylock, and of graceful, wise, and witty Portia, to remember that the great centre of European mercantile fame for many ages, was Venice. Up to the time of Henry VII., the productions of India and other oriental countries

would come by the same

routes, in the

first

instance, as

Solomon and the Queen of made by Columbus, and the

to Palestine in the days of

The

Sheba.

discoveries

finding of a sea-passage to the East Indies

by way of the

Cape, events almost contemporaneous, gave quite a new character to foreign trade. The pride of Venice, as regarded oriental productions, passed in a great measure to Lisbon. The Portuguese merchants, in turn, made

an intermediate emporium of Antwerp. importance of the Elizabeth,

last-named

city,

The in

mercantile

the

time

described in the liveliest manner in the

well-known pages of Ludovico Guicciardini

;

and from

Antwerp, in all likelihood, the Indian spices, and other such articles named by Shakspere, would now be proximately received, though the fruits ripened in the Mediterranean region would still arrive by way of the

Bay of

Biscay.

Let us

first

enumerate these.

The Shakspere Flora.

272

SHAKSPERE'S FOREIGN FRUITS. As grapes take precedence in the garden, the corresponding place in the new series may be allowed to raisins,

one of the most ancient of the

and mentioned

in the Winter's Tale,

historical fruits,

iv., 2,

as raisins "of

commoner sorts being prepared by drying The name is no more than an altered form of

the sun," the in ovens.

the Latin racemus, a bunch of grapes, as in Virgil

Aspice ad antrum Silvestris raris sparsit labrusca racemis.

(See

how

the wild vine with clusters here and there

hath mantled over the grotto.

When

Eel. v. 7.)

Shakspere wrote, the word "reasons" was pro-

nounced "raysons." Hence, the very natural double entendre, an instance of which occurs in the now proverbial line in ist

Henry

a reason on compulsion

the Fourth,

If reasons

ii.,

"Give you were as

= raisins

plenty as blackberries, I would give no

man

a reason

upon compulsion." Currants.

The

little

Corinthian grapes imported from

by by became "Corinths," then and "corantes," eventually "currants," are mentioned in the same passage in the Winter's Tale, iv., 2. The vine Zante,

which

and

producing them is scarcely distinguishable from the plant which yields grapes par excellence; the flower-clusters, the bunches, and the berries alone are smaller.

What a com-

the vicissitudes of nations, that Greece,

mentary upon once so illustrious, the parent of temple-architecture, of sculpture, oratory, history, poetry,

and the drama, should

The Imported Fruits. for ages before

273

Shakspere talked of them, descend to the The red and white

exportation only of miniature raisins

currants of the garden, Ribes rubrum, though cultivated

time

the

not

are

Elizabeth,

referred

Shakspere. Dates,

celebrity

almost as

ancient,

make

their

appearance in the same passage (Winter's Tale, iv., 2), from which, as also from the allusion in Romeo and Juliet,

may be

iv., 4, it

inferred that this fruit

comment

Parolles' uncivil

characteristic

and

AlFs

graceless

Well,

medium

i.,

through the

of a verbal quibble,

ladies not yet married,

upon grown-up

was a favourite

The same appears from

ingredient in confectionery.

"Your date

and your porridge than in your cheek." From Parolles such language comes quite consistently.

better in your pie

Mr. Halliwell describes him as " amusing enough ; a fop, nevertheless, a fool, a liar, a braggart, every way a knave, too contemptible for anger." is

quite

enough

privilege of

man

own

heart,

of these attributes

and

woman, and courtesy at all Shakspere, when speaking from

respect for

times, in addressing her. his

Any one

to cancel that noblest social capacity

never rude to the unmarried woman.

was not one of the thoughtless class who imagine that an "old maid" can only be so by reason of some personal defect, which rendered her unattractive in the bygones.

Many an

old maid

so because bereaved in

the lang syne of her heart's idol, the loved

and

lost,

never spoken of, but never forgotten; to whose sacred place she does not care to admit a successor. Many

The Shakspere Flora.

274 another

what we find her because too high-minded,

too recherche in her gentle and educated tastes, to have

been

satisfied with any one of her so-called "offers." She has never condescended to marry. For although it

may be

on the one

true,

worthy man

asks a

side, that

woman

when a

become

and

sensible

he pays

his wife,

her the highest compliment in his power; no man is entitled to suppose that condescension in the matter of a prerogative of his

marrying to wives

and mothers only

more loveable

that

own

pertains.

feeble father,

flowing with

not

What

sight in the world than that of the middle-

aged unmarried daughter who keeps house

and

It is

gender.

honour

all

who

dutiful affections,

would lay down her

for

an aged

soothes his declining years, over-

life

for

him?

prays

for

The most

him, and repulsive

female characters in Shakspere are the two ungrateful daughters,

Goneril and

heavenly one

their

Regan

unmarried

(in

Lear);

the

most

sister Cordelia.

Not that Shakspere was an admirer of feminine celibacy. Varied as are the stories of the plays, those, again to " in which the genial sunshine of quote Mr. Halliwell, his warm heart is invested, where his humanity becomes tender, plots,"

and

his

those,

in matrimony.

imagination

in a word,

When he

glowing,

are

his

love-

which are designed to end

wishes to describe, in a single

phrase, the characteristics of woman after she becomes a wife, they are "her sweet perfections" (Twelfth Night, i.,

i).

principle

more constantly

illustrated

Shakspere than that the reciprocal and active love of

men

The Imported Fruits. and women to

originates,

what Goethe

and

assures,

275

and gives completion Whether designed

calls their Blessedness.

or accidental, it is impossible to determine, but the fact remains that one of the most profoundly original charac-

whole of Shakspere, as regards substantial is that one whose sweet name implies that

ters in the

feminine love, she Blesses

light-hearted, mirthful, sprightly Beatrice,

Beatrice, who, as a maid, could not endure to

of anything that was going on in the

way

out

left

of lively

such as was calculated to give pleasure to those around her. Following close upon this comes the

business,

illustration

of love.

on the feminine

Rosalind

becomes alarmed

side,

girl

of the transfiguring power

when she Then her simple

to the time

for Orlando's safety.

him changes on the instant into yearning one remove only from the marital. emotion,

interest

own into Shakspere, or to mean more than he intends, would

put anything of our

make him appear be taking a justification.

liberty,

as already said,

that whatever he did say,

the

beyond excuse or

It is legitimate, nevertheless, to

circumstance

was said designedly.

consider

Granting

noteworthy that while nearly of his one female characters has a Christian every principal name that can scarcely be accounted English necessarily this,

so, in

most

play

Portia, to wit, Miranda, Juliet, Ophelia,

cases,

because of the foreign scene of the

Helena, Hero, Viola, Perdita, Desdemona;

Hermione,

when he

does

want an English name, and this for the type of a good, modest, courteous, and loveable woman of the middle

The Shakspere Flora.

276

nor plebeian, he goes

social rank, neither princess

own

to his

words

"Good

for

distinguished

mother, do not

to that fool."

Almonds v., 2

Sweet Anne Page"

common - sense,

also for her

marry

wife.

mentioned

are

" The

probably

signification,

now

Troilus

and

Cressida,

not do more for an almond,"

parrot will

conveying

some kind

forgotten.

The profound

proverbial

antiquity of

the esteem in which this

fruit

was

native countries, the "land of

natural, in

one of

its

Israel," is illustrated in the

brethren. scanty,

Allusions

history of Joseph in

was held, beginning, as

classical

and

literature

his

are

nevertheless, though the singular beauty of the

when

bloom, meets with occasional notice ; have been known to Shakspere, who was may not the man to overlook anything that would attract the tree,

and

in full

this

author of the Faery Queene, Like to an almond-tree ymounted hye

top of green Selinis

all

alone,

With blossoms brave bedecked

daintily.

I., 7, xxxii.

In the Elizabethan age almonds were much in demand

making of "marchpanes," the antetype of the modern macaroon, a sweet very evidently esteemed alike by high and low, since in Romeo and Juliet we have from for the

one of the

latter class,

thoughts of his "Susan" notwith-

"Save me a piece of marchpane" (i., 5). standing, The Orange, though not comparing with the almond in respect of historical fame, had by the time of Shakspere

become

quite as

common

southern Europe, whence

The Imported Fruits. would seem Coriolanus,

have been abundantly imported, for in i,

ii.,

277

though the scene

and

characteristics, including the litigant street

wife." classical

mention of

authors,

this

the

golden

orange-

ancient

apples

there any notice

in literature before the time of the Arabian authors

of the tenth or eleventh century, with first

occurs in the

fruit

queenly

mythology having been quinces; nor of

Rome, we London ways

laid in

are of course to understand a reference to

The

appears.

northern India

whom

the orange

original conveyance of the tree from

may be

assigned

a period

some

Very soon after this it was carried to Sicily and Spain, and in due course to Italy and the south of France, the diffusion coming partly of Moorish conquest,

little earlier.

and

old Venetian commerce,

partly of the

degree, probably, of the enterprise of

Crusaders, though in matters of this nature careful not to accredit

The

very name

some

homeward-bound

those steel-clad

we must be

warriors

over-

being no than the Arabic other, us, naranj, which represents in turn an Aryan word. The initial n

much.

Max

Miiller

was retained

of the

fruit is oriental,

tells

in the original Latinised

afterwards changed, apparently

name, anarantium, because of the golden

hue, into aurantium, and from this last, the transition, in " The loss France, into orange," was easy and natural.

of the eastern

initial

history of the

name

derivation,

England

n has a curious counterpart in the of the adder, which

"a nadder." is

When

not known.

The

the fruit was earliest

properly, first

brought mention of it, as

The Shakspere Flora.

278

regards this country, appears to be in

Queen

Eleanor's

household expense book for A.D. 1290, where it is said that she purchased from a Spanish ship which came to Portsmouth " vii poma de orenge."

In the Midsummer Nighfs Dream the hue of the upon two occasions to describe a colour, very

rind helps

happily, in particular, in Bottom's

birds

The

ousel-cock, so black of hue,

With orange-tawny

The

throstle,

bill

;

with his note so

The wren with

song about the

little

true,

little quill.

(iii.,

i.)

Quill," a word ultimately derived from calamus, a reed,

refers to the sweet, high-pitched, piercing note, similar to

the reed-music heard that immemorial summer's eve

when

The sun on the hill forgot to die, The lilies revived, and the dragon-fly

Came back

dream on the

river,

the note which Shakspere had plainly learned so well

how

to distinguish

which

for

own

our

amid the songs of other birds, and parts always make one wonder how

much sound can be poured forth from so The other mention of this colour occurs body. so

Your orange-tawny beard."

small a in

i.,

seems to have been

considered one of ill-promise in mankind, since Beatrice, in

playing upon Seville, the name of the whence the fruit was partly received, says

Much Ado,

Spanish city jocularly of

orange, and (ii, i).

Count Claudio, something

that that

jealous

civil

complexion"

The Imported Fruits. The Lemon Labour's Lost,

from the

v., 2.

mentioned once, slightly, in Love's Like the orange, it came originally

forests of India, arriving in

Europe, probably,

same way and about the same time. The Pomegranate, also mentioned once,

in the

may be

from

cited,

knowledge, acquired in likelihood in the metropolis, though the scene is

all

sure,

laid

Italy,

personal

occurring in

templating the history,

remotest

the

into

Airs

Well,

Con-

ii.,

are thrown back, yet again,

antiquity,

Hebrew

scripture

and

classical fable alike supplying curious illustrations of the

Carried westwards at a very early period,

primitive fame.

the

Romans seem

Carthage, queen

have received

Dido's

this fruit first

own once

Arabs, at a later period, conveyed

and thence, or from

peninsula,

glorious it

Italy,

from

city:

the

the Spanish

would seem

have reached England as early as the Anglo-Saxon times. The pomegranate was one of the fruits which, like the lily

and the

The

old

rose, travelled arm-in-arm with Christianity.

French

name, pomme-granate, "the grained

apple," passed, after the conquest, into England, super-

seding

the

Anglo-Saxon

apl-cyrnlu.

was partly an old

translated, however, into "apple-garnade," as in

poem

of about A.D. 1360, upon the destruction of

Sodom

growing on the borders of the famous Sea are described as covered with produce

and Gomorrah,

which the

trees

as fair to look at

As orange and

other fryt and apple-garnade,

Al so red and so

ripe

and rychely hwed.

The Shakspere Flora.

280

The pomegranate-/^ chamber-window scene

alluded

one

that

immortal

the

Romeo and how hard it is

Juliet

where we are shown so exquisitely for a woman whose whole heart is enveloped by the beloved, to say "good-bye," and how the merest gossamer will suffice

her for an argument

why not

Wilt thou be gone ?

It is not yet near day was the nightingale, and not the lark That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree Believe me, love, it was the nightingale. ROMEO It was the lark, the herald of the morn; No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks

JULIET

lace the severing clouds in yonder east. Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day Stands tip-toe on the misty mountain-tops. (iii., 5.)

Othello,

These

i.,

we have

the phrase "luscious as locusts."

are the dried fruit of the very celebrated tree of

the Levantine region called the Ceratonia Siliqua, and

commonly

the "carob,"

whence

also the

name

of "alga-

roba beans," given to the pods, which are seven or eight inches long, narrow, curved, and flattened. are

pinnate;

spicuous.

the

clustered

flowers

pink

From time immemorial

The

leaves

are

incon-

these pods have been

esteemed in their native countries, as a saccharine and nourishing food for brute creatures, though too coarse for

mankind.

article

They would appear

of very early import,

though

have become an for

what

distinct

purpose is not clear. At the present day they are used in the manufacture of molasses and of artificial cattle-

Eryngoes.

281

Samphire.

Historically, carobs are interesting as having

food.

been

the "husks" of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

miscellaneous

market-place edibles, not derived

from the home kitchen-garden, about half-a-dozen kinds are mentioned by Shakspere, two of them, samphire and eryngoes, prepared from productions of the sea-shore.

"Eryngoes," named in the Merry Wives, v., 5, were the candied roots, once greatly esteemed, of the Eryngium

maritimum, grey denizen of the sea-side sandhills once by

their veritable "touch-me-not," distinguished at its

whence the synonym of "sea-

intense prickliness,

holly," flowers.

and

the

The

egg-shaped

large

heads of sky-blue

roots run to a great length

among the and when

sand; they are charged with a sweetish juice;

softened in syrup, were in the Elizabethan age greatly valued, for purposes in harmony with Falstaff s character, as specified

by Turner, p. 215 (1568). Samphire, Crithmum maritimum, grows never upon the sandhills, but exclusively upon rocks and cliffs, such by the salt water. The leaves are and many-fingered very succulent; the flowers are produced in yellowish umbels, the plant becoming a mass,

as are daily splashed

all,

of some six inches in height.

The

recommended

pleasant saline flavour

it,

period, for use as a pickling vegetable. is

at all times

somewhat

As a

juiciness

and

a very early

The

collecting

samphire is often quite inaccessible except by means such as those perilous.

rule,

referred to in the inimitable description in

mentioned,

suspending a

man by

which

a rope from the brow

The Shakspere Flora.

282 of the

our

this particular cliff the

cliff,

own

island, since

most interesting

Dover, and looks out upon

the channel:

How And

dizzy

'tis,

The crows and Show scarce so Hangs one

fearful

to cast one's eye so low choughs, that wing the

midway air, Half-way down

gross as beetles.

that gathers samphire

;

dreadful trade

Methinks he seems no bigger than his head. The fishermen, that walk upon the beach,

Appear

Diminished

mice ; and yon tall anchoring barque cock ; her cock, a buoy

to her

Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge That on the unnumbered idle pebbles chafes, Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more, Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight

Topple down headlong.

Upon

sea-side

mud-flats

King

there

Lear,

iv., 6.

grows very commonly

another plant suitable for pickling, the salt-wort, Sa/icornia herbacea, a singular production,

round, green, erect, and juicy pencils. called

samphire by mistake,

made up

little

This, sometimes

by no means

thought of as Shakspere's samphire.

In the same scene in the Merry Wives, where Falstaff invokes eryngoes, he prays also for a rain of " potatoes."

These were not the potatoes of

to-day,

which in the

Shaksperean age were only just beginning to be known through introduction from South America by Sir Walter Raleigh.

Falstaff's

were the tubers of an East Indian

species of convolvulus, since

Large,

solid,

and very

named Convolvulus

Batatas.

sweet, with great repute of pro-

perties similar to those of the eryngo, they

became an

283

Saffron.

Spices.

object of culture in southern Europe

during the early

middle ages, particularly in Spain, from which country those sold in the markets of the Elizabethan times would

be obtained. the plant

are now seldom heard of, and even known out of botanic gardens. principal spices are named in the plays.

They scarcely

Most of the

Cloves appear in Love's Labour's Lost,

same scene, and in two other

in the

which (Winter's

Tale,

mace

iv.,

v., 2.

Nutmegs

places, in

also

one of

mentioned.

Pepper appears in Twelfth Night, iii., 4, and again in two other places, only that now we must remember that with Shakspere the word was equivalent to "spice," as in ist

Ginger

Henry the Fourth, i., 3, "pepper-gingerbread." than any other subis named more frequently Observe that when

stance of the kind.

in the Winter's

a "race" of ginger is mentioned, it intends a racine, or portion of the root, as commonly used; Tale,

iv., 2,

whereas in ist Henry the Fourth, ii., i, two "razes" of " to be ginger mean two parcels or packages of it, in the

Merchant of "

Venice,

iii.,

delivered at Charing Cross." i,

knap

to break

ginger, as it,

as in the

knappeth the spear in sunder." Great regard seems to have been paid also in the Shaksperean age to Saffron, so noted for the delicate and

Biblical phrase,

very pure amber-yellow given out upon infusion in water,

and which recommended

as a colouring ingredient in

certain kinds of confectionery, staining foppish neckties.

the

dried stigmas of

and

one period

for

Botanically, saffron consists of

one of those

beautiful

species

The Shakspere Flora.

284

of crocus, with violet-purple flowers, which blossom in the

autumn,

technically,

feature

distinguishing

Crocus

the

that

The

sativus.

stigmas,

when

the

flowers are in perfection,

hang out in the form of a deep golden-orange-coloured tassel between two of the petals. Indigenous celebrity at as a

south-western

saffron

acquired

perfume than a condiment.

in various

ways

for the surprise

entertainments, and hence list

Asia,

an exceedingly early period, and even more

Luxury employed and delight of guests

it falls

quite naturally into the

of odoriferous things valued by Solomon, a monarch

who seems

to have

been distinguished not more

for his

magnificence, his wisdom, and his enterprise, than for his

predilection for odoriferous plants, as indicated in

various passages in the Canticles; where to the sweets

of the garden of spices, saffron, myrrh, and aloes, are

added the

fragrant walnut-tree

That with the Greeks

and the snowy Lawsonia.

should give

name

to the colour

resulting from the infusion in water, It

was perfectly natural. was present to the mind of old Homer when he spoke

of " crocus-robed Aurora," the morning sky, in his poetic country, presenting this identical lovely

The

tint,

Lady of the Light, dress'd in her saffron robe, Dispers'd her beams in every part of this enflowered globe cheerful

with the Greeks

be deemed the

and

was no

fitting

less natural that saffron

should

colour for the apparel of youthful

upon their wedupon occasions of

virgin terrestrial ladies, especially

ding-days;

girls

wore

saffron also

profound solemnity, as when Iphigenia, about to be

Mustard. sacrificed,

285

Caraways.

smote every one around with the "piteous

glance of her eye."*

So vindictive can destiny

be, that a saffron-coloured

beard was traditionally ascribed to dissembling Judas The arch-traitor was said to have gone shares in this !

matter with the

first

slayer of his kind.

Hence,

in the

Merry Wives, i., 4, "No, forsooth; he hath but a little wee face, with a yellow beard, a Cain-coloured beard."

The

use

"warden-pies,"

The

Saffron

mentioned

Homeric

delicious old

Tempest,

iv.,

a colouring in the

picture

when Ceres invokes

ingredient

Winters

Tale,

iv., 2.

imitated in the

Iris,

with thy saffron wings upon my flowers, Diffuseth honey-drops, refreshing showers.

Who,

The

saffron-crocus

was brought to England,

during the reign of

Edward

several centuries in Essex,

Saffron Walden. it

tioned in

named 2nd Henry

England so

become

it is

believed,

Largely cultivated for

gave name to the town of

Cultivated also close to the metropolis

gave name to Saffron Mustard,

III.

Hill.

several times, the Fourth,

and Caraways, menhave both been in

v., 3,

long, that if not aborigines, the plants

perfectly naturalised,

were already

common

and

in the

in cultivation.

have

Shaksperean age

Some

think that

the caraways of this passage denote a kind of apple, a sub-variety of the nonpareil, called the "caraway-apple,"

the scene being laid in Shallow's garden: "Nay, you shall see mine orchard, where in an arbour we will eat a *

/Eschylus,

Agamemnon,

239.

The Shakspere Flora.

286 last

my own

year's pippin of

caraways, and so forth."

graffing,

But as

with a dish of

hardly likely that

the old gentleman would propose to his guests that they should eat one kind of apple after another, a confection flavoured with the aromatic seeds is most probably the " dish" intended.

To mention is

such articles of vegetable origin as remain,

necessary only for completeness' sake.

They merge,

indeed, into manufactures, and no exact line of distinction can be drawn. Rice appears in the Winter's Tale Hemp, passage cited when speaking of raisins (ii., 4). as

for cordage,

employed Upon

Flax

also,

the

hempen

upon

about as many times

Shall to

four or five occasions

flaming wrath be

oil

and

flax.

2nd Henry

Cork

also,

upon

tackle ship-boys climbing. Henry the Fifth, Act iii., Chorus.

three occasions;

the Sixth,

and ebony upon

four.

different species of

Ebony, the quite black heart-wood of

Diospyros, large evergreen trees of the eastern tropics,

one of the tioned

merchants;

earliest

productions of

"The men

history.

many

isles

kind to be men-

Dedan were

thy

were the merchandise of thine

hand; they brought thee

and ebonies" (Ezek.,

its

for a present,

xxvii.,

15).

horns of ivory

With the ancients

remarkable wood was highly esteemed for inlay Because of the blackness, Ovid uses it to cabinet work. this

intensify his picture of the

abode of Sleep, the bedstock

of the god being fabricated of ebony (Met.

xi.,

610).

Medicines.

287

Shakspere was probably no stranger to

two of the

it,

allusions being literal; the others, as with

many

of the

poets, metaphorical:

heaven, thy love like her ?

ebony

wife of such

black as ebony.

wood divine wood were felicity.

Lovers Labour's Lost,

Rouse up revenge from ebon den, with

fell

2nd Henry Sugar, wine, vinegar,

oil,

and

iv., 3.

Alecto's snake. the Fourth,

their analogues,

belong

They were common

to the idea of the flora even less.

commodities of the time, and the references to them acquire their interest on grounds altogether different.

MEDICINES. Shakspere was no great admirer of the druggists of

his

day: I

do remember an apothecary, hereabout he dwells, whom

And

late I

noted

In tattered weeds, with overwhelming brows, Culling of simples. Meagre were his looks,

Sharp misery had worn him

And

to the bones.

needy shop a tortoise hung, alligator stuffed, and other skins

ill-shaped fishes;

in his

and about

his shelves

A beggarly

account of empty boxes, Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds.

Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of thinly scattered, to make up a show.

roses,

Were

Noting

this penury, to

And if Whose

Here

man

sale is

lives

myself

I said

did need a poison now, present death in Mantua,

caitiff

wretch would

sell

him.

Romeo and Juliet,

v., I.

The Shakspere Flora.

288 The

contents of this dismal abode would be chiefly dried

herbs.

Originally there were

implied in the very

name

no medicines but

these, as

of the apothecary's profession,

"drug" and "druggist" being derived from the Angloto dry. The extension of the name to

Saxon drigan,

mineral medicines

comparatively modern.

Among

the former, in the Shaksperean age, would be plants which literally,

all

the

bear the botanical epithet

offidnalis,

kept in the drug-shops, as Veronica

officinalis,

still

Althaea offidnalis, Melilotus

Here, too, we

officinalis.

are led to suppose, could be purchased senna, received

probably from Egypt; and rhubarb, from western Asia, ma Turkey, whence the old familiar epithet people being prone to confound the place whence an article is proximately received with the actual and original source,

both

drugs

mentioned

Macbeth,

v.,

iii.

Aconite, prepared from the purple monkshood, Aconitum Napellus, would also be got there (2nd Henry the Fourth,

Colocynth, also, mentioned in Othello, i., 3, 4). the inexpressibly under the name of " coloquintida," bitter pulp of the gourd - like Cucumis Colocynthis, iv.,

indigenous to Palestine, where

supplied the "apples

mentioned

of Sodom."

in Othello, iii., 3, Opium, also, under the name of the plant, the renowned "poppy," Papaver somniferum, from which it has been prepared for twenty-five centuries.

With the poppy

coupled the

opiate of the period, the,

mandragora.

The

name

possible,

passage

that

of the other chief

still

more renowned

fearful

one where

Medicines.

289

Shakspere's most hideous character, the impersonation of infernal craftiness, gloats over the successful issue of

Enter Othello

his malignity.

IAGO

Not poppy, nor mandragora, Look where he comes Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, !

Shall ever med'cine thee to that sweet sleep

Which thou

rest,

enough

owed'st* yesterday

no repose, ever again to cast a nation into

henceforth

avail

shall

diabolically cruel

(iii.,

3.)

for thee, Othello

Opiates slumber with thee, Othello,

not

any.

reflection

impossible to imagine.

Not con-

tent with seeing Othello the victim of his remorseless villany,

for

lago rejoices in the thought that he has secured

him the

torture of sleeplessness.

Never again

will

he go shares in the benevolent gift which nature allows to the most forlorn The innocent sleep, :

Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,

The death of each day's life sore labour's bath ; Balm of hurt minds great Nature's second course ;

;

Chief nourisherin

Othello stands in characters

foundest sincerest

life's feast.

the

ii.,

fate

;

front rank of the

whose sorrowful

pity.

Macbeth,

moves our

Shaksperean souls to pro-

Magnanimous, ardent, capable of the

affection,

innocent

all

his

impulses until so infamously deceived, this *

own

natural

last

through

Owed'st, i.e. owned or had the command of, especially when the speaker would imply an absolute right to the thing possessed, a word met with elsewhere, as in the Two Gentlemen of Verona

" That such an

ass should

owe them."

The Shakspere Flora.

290

the credulousness which so often belongs to a noble heart

it is

the firmness, the resoluteness of his great spirit

which

at last precipitates the dreadful event.

sort is finer in

Nothing Shakspere than the gradual poisoning of Othello's mind; the little by little growth of the its

infinite misery; the faltering of the voice as the

man becomes

conscious of his shame; with at

unhappy

last,

when

too horribly convinced, the magnificent simile with which

he meets the insidiousness of IAGO

Patience, I say

;

his fiendish

enemy

your mind perhaps may change.

OTHELLO Never, lago. Like to the Pontic sea, Whose icy current and compulsive course :

feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on the Propontic, and the Hellespont; Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace, Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love,

Ne'er

Till that a capable

and wide revenge

Swallow them up.

when he

last,

creature, last

how

dialogue

about to slay the poor guileless

sad and tender the wifely trembling.

not so

The depth

them.

(Hi., 3.)

much spoken

The

as breathed between

of his love for her

is still

so vast that

It is only by might make him relent. summoning a whirlwind of passion that he is enabled to nerve himself for the tragic close.

a very

little

Mandragora appears again CLEOPATRA

CHARMIAN CLEOPATRA

Charmian

Antony and Cleopatra:

Madam.

me to drink CHARMIAN: Why, madam? Give

mandragora.

Medicines. CLEOPATRA

That

might sleep out

Antony

gap of time,

this great

away.

artful

Cleopatra, one of the

striking illustrations in the

entire series of Shak-

Brilliant, fascinating,

most

291

spere's characters,

vain,

of his unsearchable mastery in the

superb art of blending diversities, the picture of the

Egyptian queen in

this respect surpassing

even that of

and the more admirable because so

Beatrice, in accord

entirely

"Give me," she

with unquestioned history

Cleopatra and Beatrice, among Shakfemale characters, like Hamlet and Othello among spere's

means, oblivion.

the masculine, illustrate also that wonderful power of the

by which, over and above every other, he addresses and engages the entire mind of his attentive reader. To poet,

have particular better

is it for

faculties

addressed

very well: far

all

us that not one shall

lie

unsolicited;

this respect, as years roll on, will the inestimable

value

of Shakspere as an intellectual lever be found more and

to consist.

According to Lyte, surgery of

the cheerful anaesthetic

" :

mandragora was employed the

sixteenth

The wine wherein

hath been stieped or boyled, swageth fore

men do

century

the roote of all

mandrage

paine; where-

geve it, very wel, to such as they intende to burne in any part of their bodies, because

cut, sawe, or

they shall feel no payne"

seem

to intend

And That

mandragora

(p.

437).

Shakspere would

also in Hamlet, 1,5:

duller should thou be than the fat rots itself at ease

weed

on Lethe's wharf.

The Shakspere Flora.

292 " Fat "

here to be understood as referring to the dul-

ness and sluggishness induced by obesity, which in turn,

image,

The gora

of the paralysing effects

plant supplying this famous drug was the

offidnalis,

Palestine,

Nazareth,

one of the

Solanaceae,

of the herb.

Mandra-

indigenous to

especially upon Mount Carmel and near also to Syria and Greece. Sibthorp, who

gives a drawing

Athens

that about

in the Flora

it it

"not

Graca, 232, says In appearance it

rare."

resembles a primrose, only that the flowers are purplishand are followed by orange -coloured berries,

white,

Rachel's dudhdim, called

above-mentioned,

The

"love-apples."

large, fleshy,

and forked, so

image of the human body. as to intensify the likeness,

old

root, long-enduring,

authors is

very

as to present a grotesque

Trimmed it

with the knife, so

became the equally famous

"mandrake" of the middle ages. To find a vegetable production more burdened with superstitions during would probably be impossible. images, called "puppettes" and

that

period of

history

The

ridiculous

little

"mammettes," accredited with magical powers, and made the centre of innumerable absurdities, fetched high prices

with the simple. fill

chapter;

The

detail,

fortunately,

were the

worth while, would

whole

matter

was

exhausted long ago by Sir Thos. Browne, in the "Vulgar Errors."

Shakspere himself adverts to these old fancies, course not accepting, but of his time

deference to the legends

Medicines. Would

293

curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan,

would invent as bitter-searching terms, As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear. I

2nd Henry

the Sixth,

And

shrieks, like mandrakes', torn out of the earth,

That

living mortals, hearing them,

Romeo and Juliet,

i.,

and again

iii.,

iv.

go mad*

2nd Henry

refers also to the "puppettes," in

Fourth,

iii.,

the

In connection with the mandragora, it may be interesting to mention that the Greeks gave this plant, for another name,

renowned

reference to the

Circaea,

a botanical name, has long enchantress. Circsea, a to been transferred pretty and innocent little flower as

of the woodlands, which thus inherits also the appelin

lation,

default

of the

history

unintelligible,

" Enchanters' nightshade."

The introduction, in Much Ado, iii., 4, of another famous medicinal plant of the middle ages, the Carduus Benedictus, or "Holy Thistle," brings us back to life's For now we are again beside Beatrice, cheered by the remembrance, as she enters, that all

merriment.

Shakspere's souls,

and

serious

greatest

characters

have humour in their

they can be never take their requires, times induced a smile, the

that all these greatest, though

enough when occasion

leave without priceless

having at

function

all

same moment we have

that

sly,

and dear

little

modesty

and gentleness.

truly

good.

At the

shrewd, roguish Margaret,

Hero, her mistress, Beatrice

who never is

fails

loving war

The Shakspere Flora.

294 with the

has ".

"young

read

lord of Padua," Benedick.

"this worthy hearbe,"

that

was named the blessed

well againste

poysons,

the pestilent agues and

diseases of the

ever lived the

woman who would "

Beatrice says,

"I am

MARGARET: Get you some and lay

BEATRICE moral

in this Benedictus

MARGARET ing.

Benedictus

Moral

Where, when,

let slip so

golden a

sick."

only thing for a qualm You have someBenedictus ? !

Why

No, by meant plain Holy Thistle :

heart."

of the distilled Carduus Benedictus,

It is the

to your heart.

Margaret Benedictus,

thistle for his singular vertues

other perilous

chance!

the

troth, I

have no moral mean-

That we may believe or not, as we like. Beatrice, pretend as she may, knows quite well what Margaret means.

BOOK AND HEARSAY NAMES.

Full many a glorious morning have I seen Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye ; Kissing with golden face the meadows green,

Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy. Sonnet

mass of

even of such

language,

on the surface seem purely

portions as literal,

all

consists

either of metaphors,

of short crystallised similes.

teems expressions

referring

also,

xxxiii.

objects

must

and

Language needs,

with

phenomena of

which the people who use them can very seldom have personal knowledge, but which objects no one ever hesitates to talk of as if familiar.

The

whirlpool and the

volcano, crocodiles, sharks, and scorpions, are as much a part of the popular vocabulary as trees and oxen.

The Shakspere Flora.

296 The

most

poets' language,

such expressions,

many

particularly, is

crowded with

of them primaeval.

They

are

employed, however, in very different ways. The inferior man simply copies ; he is only a scribe the master uses :

them

and by

as prisms,

this

When

discover him.

Shakspere adopts metaphors from the ancients, we get lamps, as of old; but, as in the Arabian tale, they are

"new"

ones in

for

exchange

the

His

exhausted.

repetitions never carry the look of the second-hand; his

echoes are as charming as the

originalities.

Possessed

of the sweet aptitude for observing personally, finest

of the fine

arts,

first

and

without which there can be no

true greatness, he sees everything that his predecessors

He it with Shaksperean eyes besides. moreover, than to adventure upon uncertain

saw, and sees

knew

better,

ground, simply for the sake of being novel.

than to be very like

new

is it

one of the goddesses

The

trees

unknown

to in

be very

Better often

old, stepping forth

Homer.

to Shakspere as living objects, but

which he introduces upon hearsay, are the palm, the cedar, the pine, the laurel or bay, the myrtle, and the olive.

Mention

Balm-of-Gilead, see.

him

One in

made

also of cypress-wood

neither of which articles

or two of the trees

some garden when he

them were founded,

may have been

wrote.

nevertheless,

and of

did he ever

seen by

His references

upon

simple book-

knowledge.

Of Balm, Balsam,

Balsamum, meaning Balm-ofmedicament of Scripture,

Gilead, the sevenfold famous

The Cypress. more, even now,

little

yielded by

certain

growing in Abyssinia, and ancient Arabia.

with keeping

and

order

the

land

that

Amyridaceae, of mystery,

when new,

Fragrant, and,

semi-fluid,

becomes resinous and golden yellow,

at all times so

no wonder

known than

exactly

trees

297

admirable for physicians' purposes,

took the place in language it has held for three thousand years, or that of a metaphor for

that

kindliest soothing

and consolation

'Twas whispered balm ; 'twas sunshine spoken

The

trees are adverted to at the

Drop

tears as fast as the

Their medicinal gum.

The medicament or eight occasions

appears,

end of

Arabian

Othello:

trees

(v., 2.)

upon seven

metaphorically,

pity hath been

balm

to heal their

wounds.

3rd Henry Balm Most

best,

the Sixth,

iv., 8.

of your age,

most

dearest.

King

Lear,

i., I.

Also upon three or four in the sense of the anointing oil used in coronations, Not all the water in the rude, rough sea Can wash the balm from an anointed king. Richard the Second,

The

Cypress.

The

iii.,

cypress had been introduced from

the Levant long before the time of Elizabeth. The very remarkable spire-like figure, then without a parallel in

England, and the peculiar

foliage,

arrest the poet's attention, did

would hardly

he meet with

it.

the Shaksperean references to this famous tree

fail

Still,

we have

The Shakspere Flora.

298

only ancient literature renewed, though perhaps indirectly,

In oriental countries the through the Italian poets. a favourite from very early times for had been cypress planting near tombs,

whence Spenser's

"the cypress

Faery Queene, which at once explains the ill,

when

funereal,"

line in

epithet, in the

an association

2nd Henry

the Sixth,

Suffolk, execrating his enemies, wishes

Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress-trees.

When,

in the

Taming of the Shrew,

In ivory coffers I have stuffed In cypress chests my arras,

ii.,

Grumio

says,

crowns,

refers to the very ancient reputation of

cypress-wood

as something imperishable, therefore suited for the protection of valuables.*

The same

Laurel or Bay-tree.

plant, the celebrated

which,

when rubbed

of cinnamon.

These are two names

Laurus

or bruised,

nobilis,

give

out the odour

Familiar to the ancients,

the renown

begins, as every one knows, with the fable of the

whose name was beautiful

transferred to

it,

for the

the leaves of

nymph

Daphne, the coy and

The chase across maid beloved of Apollo. and the "careless locks"

the meads, the flowing robe

tossed backwards by the wind, the failing strength, the

sense of the god's shadow at her

feet,

the mournful look,

Cypress, or Cyprus, was the name also, in the Shaksperean some kind of woven fabric, black, it would seem, from the reference in Autolycus' song, in the Winter's Tale, iv. 3 ; and used age, of

particularly for mourning, as indicated in the song in Twelfth Night, ii.,4-

The "Oh,

the piteous cry,

and

spere. it

these count

Upon

these in turn

and

the consecration of the tree to genius

me!"

help

father,

with the things that cannot perish.

came

299

Bay-tree.

echo of this Possibly, as

some

that

above

victory,

find the laurel in Shak-

he may have been shown

said,

curious garden, but

the

allusions

are

Such are "laurelled victory" and in Antony Cleopatra, i., 3, the "laurel crown" to Warwick, adjudged every instance imitative.

likely to

be blest in peace and war,

3rd Henry

and

that

and

Cressida,

one contained i.,

the Sixth, iv., 6,

in the beautiful line in Trot'/us

Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels.

"Bay," the English form of the French bate, a contraction turn of the Latin bacea, berries, the purple and aromatic fruit, which in the middle ages was much in

esteemed, appears in Richard the Second, 'Tis thought the king

The

dead,

ii.,

will not stay,

bay-trees in our country all are withered.

expression

figurative one.

nobleness,

of course to be understood as a purely

Perhaps, as the laurel

may be a metaphor

and

good in the country "weak in adversity, reckless

favouritism

done mischief

to repair,

that

the

emblem of

the

for "all that

was great

has perished." in prosperity,"

that

took

Richard,

had by

many

metaphor would

suit.

probably, being associated with other prodigies, These signs forerun the death or

fall

his

long years

of kings,

The Shakspere Flora.

300

the reference, as said on page superstition,

now

1 2,

may be

For the

forgotten.

some

curious

flourishing of the

bay was a presage of good, and a guarantee of safety:

"Neyther one

falling sycknes,

infest or hurt

The Romaynes

in that place

called

local

neyther devyll, wyl

whereas a bay-tree

is.

the plant of the good angell."*

Withering and dying, without apparent physical cause, would, on the converse, necessarily induce conditions exactly opposite.

The

pleasant odour of the bay

recommended

olden times for garnishing dainty and stylish dishes on the occasion of banquets. Hence the figurative phrase in Pericles,

The liness

shamelessly spiteful.

iv., 6,

Myrtle.

Nature holds few shrubs that in come-

and neatness

of the

rival the myrtle.

perennial foliage,

The

shining green

sweet and uncontested

the

delicacy of the white bloom, just touched with purple,

and the pleasant odour, with by and by agreeable very early declared the

Christian

fitting

affections.

emblem,

fruit,

as in Scripture, of

In secular poetry

quite

naturally passed on to the signification of love in general. The Greek and Latin poets adduce it in this connection, in very

many

Shakspere

places;

Passionate Pilgrim, and in Venus

and

Cleopatra, I

iii.,

10,

was of late as petty

Lupton.

suit

the

In Antony

enters into a fine comparison: to his ends,

As is the morn-dew on To his grand sea. *

follows

and Adonis.

the myrtle leaf

Notable Things; the Syxt Booke.

The Palm. In Measure for Measure, a metaphor

301

there

ii.,.2,

simultaneously involved

another, in which

Merciful heaven,

Thou

rather, with thy sharp

Split'st the

Than

Excepting in one instance, Shakspere's tree of Scripture and of

the immemorial

and the

classical poetry, the source of dates,

symbol, in

bolt,

the soft myrtle.

The Palm. "palm"

and sulphurous

umvedgeable and gnarled oak,

art,

Recommended

beautiful

of Palestine and of the Orient in general. for symbolical use

by the columnar form

of the lofty and unbranched stem, the steady aspiration, the majestic arching crown of huge evergreen leaves, and its

munificence as a fruit-bearer, the palm became the at a very early period, of nobleness, virtue,

synonym, victory,

and

prosperity.

Once

established as a metaphor,

a word like "palm," possessed as

it is

of a certain happy

brevity, a certain pleasant ring or resonance,

a certain

of the picturesque, a welcome adaptedness to supply a rhyme or sustain a metre, lives for ever. Men ask no air

they know what they mean the palm," and "carry the palm," and

questions about the tree;

when they "bear

is enough. Shakspere certainly never saw a palm; he simply adopts the metaphor, and this always in

that

pleasant fashion, as in Julius v.,

Timon of Athens,

v., i;

Ccesar,

i.,

and Hamlet,

Coriolanus, v., 2.

When, in Henry the Eighth, iv., 2, the dying queen has her beautiful vision of the angels, " clad in white robes,

wearing on their heads garlands of bays, and

The Shakspere Flora.

302

having palms in their hands," the latter part of the imagery, it hardly needs the saying, is adopted from the Apocalypse, the language of which turn, by the

literal history

explained, in

contained in the fourth Gospel.

"The branches of palms" mentioned by St. John, xii., 13, must not be understood, however, as palm-leaves pure and simple, and newly cut for the occasion. The Jewish custom was to prepare these leaves

for ceremonial use

by trimming them, then binding with myrtle upon the right,

and

upon the left. They were carefully laid solemn occasions, and were now fetched out to do

for

by honour

citron

to the entry into the holy city.

That the palm should become identified with Palestine, and with Jerusalem in particular, was quite consistent.

Hence

name

the

of palmifer, shortened into " palmer,"

given to pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre who had honourably performed the journey, and had now returned, or were returning, homewards, carrying a leaf, or a portion of one, as attestation.

The palmers

of the middle ages

must not be confounded with pilgrims sets

peregrinus

pilgrim

out

different places, according to

palmer's

origin

and

goal

purely the

in general.

any

The

one of many

the object in view; the

Holy Sepulchre.

The

history of the pilgrims, including the palmers,

most interesting chapters in the The social life of Europe during the middle ages. Crusades may be regarded as a portion of it, expressed

constitutes one of the

upon a it

scale of

leads

consummate magnitude. pilgrimages

shrines

Little

and

by little famous

The Palm. sanctuaries; the

of the actuating

303

"Canterbury Tales" give an instance spirit, only with a dash of caricature.

Both pilgrims and palmers are several times mentioned

by Shakspere, as in All's Well, iii., 5, when Helena makes her appearance, dressed in the style that declares her purpose

HELENA

The

God save you, pilgrim Where do the palmers

lodge, I

exceptional Shaksperean reference to the palm

the date-palm

Whither are you bound do beseech you ?

It,

iii.,

not being

when

"See what

exclaims,

intended

occurs in

As You

Rosalind, rejoicing over her verses, I

have found upon a palm-tree

She has sometimes been supposed to mean the palmwillow, Salix Capraa, the long and pliant twigs of which, covered with opening catkins, have been used in England for many ages, on Palm-sundays, as a substitute for the

But there

branches of the Palestine plant.

no need of

conjecture of any kind, the signification and the source

whence the word was

in the present instance

derived

As You Like It had for its antetype a novelette by Thomas Lodge, originally published in 1590, under the name of "Rosalynde, Euphues' Golden being plain.

"Rosalynde," in turn, had

Legacie."

the old

hard

poem it

of "Gamelyn,"

its

antetype so

to get at the actual beginning of anything.

Often graceful and musical, but

full

the natural history of Lodge's tale

that

of quaint conceits, of the oddest,

when we note what is very was taken at random from another

circumstance not surprising evident,

for

authorship uncertain

The Shakspere Flora.

304 predecessor, Glanville's

the

Bartholomew

celebrated

book, styled

Proprietatibus

Glanville.

Rerum,

very curious one, comprising a Herbal, a Gazetteer, a

Guide

music.

Domestic Medicine, and some chapters upon Composed about 1360, it was translated into

English by John de Trevisa, and originally printed by Wynkyn de Worde, about 1494, from which time it continued, for quite one hundred and

years,

fifty

the most popular of the volumes then read. as well as Lodge,

one of

Shakspere,

no doubt was well acquainted with

it,

the latter picking out for his "Rosalynde," the "mir-tree," the "cypresse-tree," "lymons and citrons," the "fig," a

"hungry lyon," and finally the "palm." The tree meant by Glanville is the famous "phoenix" of the Graeco-Egyptian myth, reported to flower only once, perishing immediately afterwards, though at once succeeded by another.

Lodge, "Thou art old, father Adam, and waxes white; the palme-tree is already full of bloomes, and in the furrows of thy face appear the Kalenders of death." Founded, like all other myths, in

Hence,

thy hair

upon a

fact in nature,

the curious old tale was without

doubt a mistaken history of the talipat-palm,

Corypha

umbraculifera, of Ceylon; with the merit also of being

designed realities,

illustrate

the

grandest

the Rejuvenescence

physiological

nature.

Rosalind's

Shakspere from Lodge,

"palm," adopted by nothing more than the Egyptian phoenix.

The

thus

fable of

the tree got confounded, as well known, through similarity

of name, with that of the bird.

Allusion to the latter

The is

made by

Cleopatra,

When,

305

Sebastian in the Tempest,

the phoenix' throne."

and

Olive.

iii.,

It is

and

"One

iii.,

tree,

mentioned also in Antony the Eighth,

Henry

v., 4.

in Hamlet, Horatio says, In the most high and palmy state of Rome,

the reference be not to something

The

antlers of deer, fallow-deer, at all

questionable different.

very

when

events,

grown, are called "palms," and in

full

their maturity are said to

employed Iliad,

Lord Derby, employ to

spere,

familiars,

as an

Chapman's

in the

own

day,

same manner; and Shak-

whom the "dappled would be quite as likely

emblem of

translation of the

Pope, Cowper, and, in our

124.

iv.,

The word

be "palmate."

in this sense in

were beloved

fools,"

to cite their perfection

imperial power, as to

fall

back upon

the stereotyped image of a tree he had never seen.

The

Olive.

olive-tree is

In two places in

As You Like

mentioned as an element of If you will

know my

'Tis at the tuft of olives here

then in

iv.,

It the

living nature.

house,

hard by

(iii.,

5);

A sheep-cote fenced about with olive-trees. In both, however, the name appears after the same

manner

as Rosalind's

"palm;" by adoption,

that

from the novelette which supplied the original idea of this beautiful play. Matchless Arden, though Shaksay,

spere gives us, in

Warwickshire,

its

leafy coverts,

Fairyland

all

his

the same

own beloved Fairyland of

The Shakspere Flora.

306

the best and truest kind.

which, above

all

It is the play in respect of

others,

are least entitled to

for literal consistency in the natural history.

well then good-bye alike to the

and gilded snake," head on ground,"

When

to the

olive,

press

are,

"green

to the lioness that "lay couching,

that the sleeping

man

should

stir;

good-bye, in a word, to Rosalind.

Elsewhere the allusions to

spond with those to the the

instance,

very

this

famous plant correrelate, in

laurel.

They

ancient

symbolical

sentative use of the olive,

which

every repre-

in Scripture, as well as

in classical verse, is constantly put for charity, peace,

and

-will. This, though he never saw an Shakspere knew quite well. In Twelfth Night, "I bring," says Viola, "no overture of war, no taxation

good

olive,

of homage. are as

hold the olive in

of peace as matter"

full

the Fourth,

(i.,

hand; my words So in 2nd Henry

my 5).

iv., 4,

There is not now a rebel's sword unsheathed, But peace puts forth her olive everywhere.

Similar words occur in Antony

Timon of Athens, in

Sonnet

The well

v.,

^rd Henry

Cleopatra,

the Sixth,

iv.,

and

cvii.

Pine.

The

leaves,

magnificent group

distinguished by the

acicular

and

includes

tesselated as

its

conifers

cones and long

British

representative

one commonly called the " Scotch fir," the Pinus Whether Shakspere knew sylvestris of the botanists. that

The Pine. much, or indeed anything, of

307 very doubtful.

this tree, is

Not a companion of the oak, preferring bleak mountains to the plain and the sheltered valley, even if it existed

when

in Warwickshire

the plays were written,

other conifer be conspicuous; the

Abies

Norway spruce

had been introduced, and

excelsa,

would

Neither would any

not form a feature in the landscape.

this

alone,

was not a

common plant. When, accordingly, we come upon " references to the pine," the name must be understood who

as one of those adopted from the classical poets,

abound with

allusions to the beautiful forms indigenous

to southern Europe, the

the Pinus Laricio,

Pinus Pinaster, the Pinus Picea,

and perhaps

discrimination of species. are purely literal Behind the

One

others,

tuft

of pines I met them.

Winter's Tale,

ii.,

or two others are figurative,

Thus droops

this lofty pine,

and hangs

his sprays.

2nd Henry

The

but without

or two of the references

the Sixth,

belong to the former class, as in that most splendid picture, in its kind not excelled by any poet ancient or modern, where the rising of the sun is finest

all

spoken of: But when from under

fires

this terrestrial ball

the proud tops of the eastern pines.

Richard

The the

pines, that first

to say,

upon

be touched by the

the Second,

iii.,

the mountain-crest, are

light, all

sunset they are the last to surrender.

golden, which at

One cannot

but

308

The Shakspere Flora.

think of the

"great god Pan," whose

name denotes

and whose brows were represented

universal nature,

wreathed with pine-foliage, the poet's sweet way of saying that the mountain-outlines of the world are fringed with

Pine-wood (possibly that of the Pinus

this glorious tree.

Troilus

sylvestris) is referred to in

and

Cressida,

i.,

knots, by the conflux of meeting sap, Infect the sound pine, and divert his grain,

Tortive and errant, from his course of growth.

The knots

and beautiful

induce, nevertheless, a rich

variegation, plain

enough when a

slice is polished,

Checks and

Grow

disasters

in the veins of actions highest reared,

the sense of the whole being identical with the spirit of As

You Like

It,

places, that situde, not

and with the idea

Pine-wood, charged with

This

set forth in so

many

other

men of noble heart learn in conflict with vicisso much how weak they are, but how strong.

why

resin, is highly inflammable.

Ceres, searching for her lost daughter, the

whirled-away in "Dis's wagon," from which were dropped the immortal daffodils, restless even by night, kindled

"pines" in the flame of ^Etna to serve as torches. beautiful, too, the citation of the

Medea, describing the fervour and

How

pine when forsaken rapidity with

which

her affection had been kindled for Jason, compares it to the sudden and brilliant ignition of a "pine-brand,"

when

lighted at a sacrifice to the gods.

to think that

which was used

may

permissible

have been wood of the same tree

for Prospero's hearth ?

Enough

the

The Cedar.

309

thought transforms into the sound of the voice of charmed These few Miranda, to whom self-sacrifice is heaven.

words show that the sweet "eye- wedlock" now

Alas

Work

not so hard

complete:

pray you,

would the lightning had

Burnt up these logs, that you are enjoined to pile; Pray set it down, and rest you when this burns 'Twill weep for having wearied you. :

O most dear mistress, FERDINAND The sun will set before I shall discharge What I must strive to do If you'll sit down, MIRANDA I'll bear your logs the while. Pray give me that, :

I'll

carry

to the pile.

Tempest,

Coniferous trees supplied also, fragrant

wood burned

iii.,

ancient

times,

as incense in sacred rituals.

"wood-of-sacrifice" mentioned

by Homer

the

The

in his descrip-

tion of the enchanted island of friendly Calypso reappears

the

" Apocalypse as thyine-wood."

we have something the

In Shakspere

of the same sort in the

Taming of

Shrew: Carry him gently to my fairest chamber, burn sweet wood to make the lodging sweet.

And

Induction.

The

Cedar.

literature,

the

this

name

always understood in cedar -of-Lebanon, Cedrus

immemorial

Libani, so often employed in Scripture as an

kingly stateliness

and magnificence.

emblem of

was the

scriptural

use which furnished Shakspere with his ideas of the tree,

no mention being made of

whom,

by the

indeed, the Libani would

classical authors, to

seem

have been

The Shakspere Flora.

310

As an

unknown.

object of nature,

perhaps which in the aggregate with

qualities, as

all

other truly

there

nothing

more imposing. The great and glorious things, is

are such as not only catch the eye, but retain

The

it.

stature, the girth, the measured symmetry, the remark-

able and unique spread of the strike out in

huge boughs, which such a way as to form distinct horizontal

stages

enough

to confer nobleness;

prophet's

terraces,

are

separately

and

and independently

in addition there

the

"shadowy shroud," no tree being more remarkwoven density of dark leafage, never lost.

able for closely

Shakspere introduces

The sun

Who

upon twelve

different occasions.

ariseth in his majesty,

doth the world so gloriously behold, hills seem burnished gold.

That cedar-tops and

Venus and Adonis.

As on a mountain-top the cedar shows, That keeps his leaves in spite of any storm. 2nd Henry

the Sixth, v.,

And like a mountain- cedar reach his branches To all the plains about him. Henry the Eighth, Sometimes The

it is

used as an image of grandeur

lofty cedar, royal

Personates thee.

Marcus,

shall flourish,

v., 4.

Cymbeline,

v., 5.

are but shrubs; no cedars we.

Titus Andronicus,

iv., 3.

Thus

yields the cedar to the axe's edge, Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle.

$rd Henry

the Sixth,

The Cedar.

Other examples, various in their kind, occur in the Tempest, v., i; Love's Labours Lost, iv., 5; Richard the Third, in

i.,

3; Coriolanus,

v.,

Cymbdine,

v.,

4 (repeated

and the Rape of Lucrece.

v.,

5);

cedars existed in England during Shakspere's

The

time.

first

from seed Sylva,

life-

individuals appear to have been raised

by the celebrated Evelyn, author of the The Warwick Castle

some time about 1680.

cedars, though popularly assigned to the

are thus not yet two centuries old.

Norman

period,

As a matter of

fact

they were planted only about 1740, by the grandfather of the present earl. They would then probably be vigorous saplings of some few years' growth; and to the near

neighbourhood of the river, the shelter, and the soil, may be ascribed the grand proportions they now exhibit.

No slight

privilege

is it

when

visiting Shakspere's

home

to find, within distance so easy, a feudal relic so grand,

and upon which beside

it,

his eyes

trees which,

their storied

must often have rested;

and

though he never beheld, were in

kind so richly present to his imagination. in a measure like him-

These Warwick Castle cedars are self,

towers of grandeur reared in the past, more majestic

every day, and that will be stately and as

it is

commanding as long

possible for such things to endure.

with the things which awaken gratitude in

counted

They reckon its

best forms.

a splendid pile of stone or marble, to paint a sublime picture, to compose a brilliant It is

opera. sort,

fine to raise

Perhaps the especially

man who

multiplies trees of glorious

when, like these cedars, they compare

The Shakspere Flora. with epitaphs, achieves in his day quite as genuinely as

good an end. He makes the world richer than he found it, a good that any man may be proud to accomplish.

can hope, in any case, when the sun

the west, that though his

name may

slide

sinking in

away and be

forgotten, the work he has done, or has essayed to do,

so that

has been honest and

faithful,

may

not have

been altogether in vain; that it will give pleasure to a thousand hearts yet unborn, and inspire a thousand more I would rather be able to reflect to go and do likewise. in

old age

that

had been the originator of a

hundred oaks and cedars that

make my country

in days to

come

shall help

glad and beautiful, than have it recorded of me, simply and exhaustively, that my will was "proved under a million," and leave no memorial to

besides.

INDEX. Balm Aconite, 288.

Acorns, 29, 58. Acorus Calamus, 262. Adriana, 245.

Agnus castus, Almond, 276.

101, 102.

Anachronisms, 248. Angelica, 221. Annunciation-lily, 160.

Apemantus,

26, 227.

Barley, 213. Bavin, 240. Bay- tree, 298. Beans, 196. Beatrice, 144, 204, 275. Bees, 173. Belch, Sir Toby, 226.

Benedick, 41, 294. Berries, 235.

Apothecary's shop, 287. Apple, 183. John, 183. Apricot, 192. Arctium, 222. ,,

Ariel, 54, 240. Arthur, 187.

Arundo Phragmites,

of Gilead, 296.

Balsam, 296.

258.

Ascaunt, 35.

Bilberry, 265. Bindweed, 147. Birch-tree, 63. Bitter-sweeting, 183. Blackberry, 234. Bluebell, 125. Blushing Honours, 181. Box-tree, 60.

Bracken, 241. Brake, 241. Bramble, 236.

Ash-tree, 64. Aspen, 48. Aspersion, 217.

Asphodel, 123, 161. As You Like It, 18, 305, Azure, 125.

B Bachelors' Buttons, 135. Balm, 205, 208.

Briar, 140.

Broom,

64, 237.

Burdock, 222. Burnet, 214. Burs, 222. Bush, Good wine needs no, 247. Buttercup, 135. Buttons, 136.

Index.

Cabbage, 196. Calendula officinalis, 165. Calluna vulgaris, 238. Caltha palustris, 167. Canker, 138. Caraways, 285.

Carduus lanceolatus, 223. ,, nutans, 224. Carnation, 1 68. 280. Carobs, Carpet, 78, 79. Carrot, 195. Cedar, 309. Celia, 130, 223.

Centaurea Cyanus, 134. Ceratonia Siliqua, 280.

Chamomile,

206.

Chaplet, 78, 79, 171. Cherry, 189. ,,

pit,

191.

Chestnut, 193. Christianity, Shakspere's, 109. Circaea, 293. Cleopatra, 291. Clerk, 191.

Costard, 183. Cowslip, 6, in. Crab-apple, 230. Grants, 80.

Crocus sativus, 284. Crow-flower, 126. Crown-imperial, 165. Cuckoo-buds, 135. flowers, 133. hood, 134. Currants, 272. ,,

Cypress, 297. Cytherea, 85.

Daffodil, 121.

Daisy, 119.

Damascene,

Damask, ,,

187.

154. rose, 154.

Damson, 187. Dante, no. Daphne, 298. Darnel, 219, 220. Dates, 273.

Dead men's

fingers, 129.

Clip, To, 193.

Deracinate, 218.

Clover, 214. Cloves, 283. Cockle, 219, 220. Colocynth, 288. Coloquintida, 288.

Desdemona, 41, 290. Dewberry, 236.

Columbine, 172. Commerce, Early English, 271. Conium maculatum, 221. Constance, 187. Convolvulus Batatas, 282. ,, sepium, 147. Cork, 286. Corn, 211. Corn-cockle, 219. ,,

flower, 134. marigold, 219.

Cornus sanguinea, 231. Corollary, 172. Coronation, 171.

Diana, 234. Dian's bud, 101. Dido, 36, 40. Differences, Heraldic, 204.

Dock, 224. Dogberry, 231. Dog-rose, 138. Drowning, Death by, 34. Drug, druggist, 288.

Duckweed,

267.

Ebony, 286. Eglantine, 140. Elder, 66. Elinor, 187.

Elm,

65.

Index. Enchanters' nightshade, 293. Eryngoes, 281. Exogens and endogens, 154.

Euphues, 206. Euphuists, The, 206.

315

Grace, 203. Grapes, 192. Grass, 209, (salad) 198.

Greene, 248. Greens, 196.

Greensome, 256. Faery Queene, Spenser's, 233.

Green-sour, 256.

Fairies, 100.

Fair maids of France, 135. Fairy-rings, II, 255.

Hamlet, 88.

Falstaff, 183, 199.

Hanmer,

Fancy, 98. Favour, 89.

Female

plants, 244.

Fennel, 199, 207. Fern-seed, 242. Fig, 191. Filbert, 234. Fine, 94. First Folio, 6, 176. Flag, The vagabond, 267. Flax, 286.

Fleur

de-lis, 163.

Sir Thomas, 237. Hardock, 222. Hardwicke, Elizabeth, 83.

Harebell, 124.

Hawthorn,

55.

Hazel-nut, 232. Heartsease, 95. Heath, 237.

Hebenon, 46. Hedgerows, The, 229. Helena (All's Well), 142.

(Midsummer Night's

Dream),

19, 241.

Floure-gentle, 171. Flower-de-luce, 163. Forward, 89. Fruit-trees, 181.

Helichryson, 167. Heliotropion, 166. Hemlock, 220.

Fumitory, 225.

Henbane, 222.

Furze, 237.

Herb

Hemp, o'

286.

Grace, 203.

Hermione, 249.

Herne the Hunter, Galeobdolon luteum, 128. Garlic, 198.

Hero, 144, 293. Holiday, 136.

Garter, The, 257.

Holly, 62.

Gilliflower, 168.

Holy

Ginger, 283. Githago segetum, 219.

Honeystalks, 214. Honeysuckle, 143. Horse-beans, 214. Hyacinth, 125.

Glanville, 304.

Gold-cup, 135. Golds, 219. Gonzalo, 237, 239. Goolds, 219. Gooseberry, 193. Gorse, 240. Goss, 240.

27.

Thistle, 293.

Hyssop, 205, 207, 227.

Imogen, 251.

Index.

3*7

Index.

Palmer and Howe,

Printers, Princess Street, Manchester.