CHAP. CXII. 



TAX A CEJE. TA XUS. 



2083 



" This foul reproach Ascanius could not bear 

 With patience, or a vow'd revenge forbear : 

 At the (ull stretch of both his hands, he drew, 

 And ahnost join'd, the horns of the tough yew." 



In the Georgics, the yew is frequently mentioned ; and those who keep bees 

 are cautioned not to jjlace their hives near yew trees. 



Among the old EngHsh poets, the yew is frequently mentioned; and, as 

 an example, we may copy the following lines fioni Herrick, as quoted by one 

 of the most elegant poetesses of the present day. Miss Twamley. Herrick 

 thus addresses the cypress and the j e\v : — 



" Both of you have 

 Relation to the grave ; 



And where 

 The fun'rale trump sounds you aie there. 



1 shall he made 

 Ere long a fleeting shade : 



I'ray come, 

 And do some honor to my tomb. 



Do not deny 

 Aly last request, for I 



Will be 

 Thankful to you, or friends for me." (See Uomancc qf Nature, &c.) 



Shakspeare mentions the yew as being used for bow? :— 



" The very beadsmen learn to bend their bows 

 Of double fatal yew against thy state." 



He also alludes to its being employed in funerals : — " My shroud of 

 white, stuck all with yew." Many other poets allude to its connexion with 

 ideas of death. Blair says, addressing himself to the grave : — 



" Well do I know thee by thy trusty yew; 

 Cheerless unsocial plant, that loves to dwell 

 'Midst skulls and coflins, epitaphs and worms ; 

 Where light-heeled ghosts, and visionary shades. 

 Beneath the wan cold moon (so fame reports), 

 £mbedied thick, perform their mystic rounds : 

 No other merriment, dull tree, is thine." 

 6 T .J 



