EBONY. 



EBONY.— Blackness. 



Pluto, or Hades, is said to sit upon a throne of Ebony 

 with his consort Persephone, at his court in Pandemonium. 

 " Pie has a heart as black as Ebony," is not an uncommon 

 expression, when one is spoken of who is beHeved to 

 have done some great wickedness, or committed some 

 act of gross deception. This would seem to have arisen 

 from the fact, that Ebony is the heart-wood of a tree, 

 the alburnum being of a pale hue, its foliage soft and of 

 downy whiteness, while its flowers are beautiful and showy. 



THE EGLANTINE {Rosa riibiginosa) — Poetry. 



The Eglantine, or Sweet-briar Rose, is regarded as being 

 specially the flower of poets. In the floral games it is 

 awarded as the prize for the best production in praise of the 

 pleasures of study, and the charms of oratory. But not only 

 is it the Poet's flower, for, thriving in every situation, and 

 universally admired and appreciated, both for its permanent 

 fragrance, and the beauty and elegance of its simple flowers 

 in their season, it is a most fitting emblem of poetry. How 

 accurately does M. de Boisjolin speak of it in these lines, — 



" Fleur chere k tous les cceurs, elle pare k la fois 

 Et le chaume du pauvre et le marbre des rois ; 

 Elle orne tous les ans la beaute la plus sage ; 

 Le prix de Finnocence en est aussi rimage;" 

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