"SWEET SUMMER BUDS" 179 



pose of awakening his interest in the "Lady Dis- 

 dain." Shakespeare evidently knew that the honey- 

 suckle is the flower of ardent lovers, and so he 

 framed his pleached bower with these sweet-scented 

 blossoms. The French have a tender name for the 

 flower, cher feu (dear flame), because it is given by 

 lovers to one another. The other French name, 

 chevre feuille, is derived from the Latin caprifolium 

 (goat-leaf), which may have been given to it be- 

 cause the plant leaps over high rocks and precipices, 

 where only goats and others of the cloven-footed 

 tribe dare venture. The honeysuckle in Shake- 

 peare's day was a favorite remedy for wounds in 

 the head. Witches also valued it for their sorcery. 

 According to sorcerers and astrologers this plant was 

 under the rule of Mercury. 



It is hard to decide when the honeysuckle is at its 

 best. Whether at hot noontide when the clusters of 

 pale buff and white horns of plenty tipped with their 

 long, feathery threads pour their incense into the 

 golden sunlight, or when the less pungent, but 

 equally intoxicating, perfume floats upon the silvery 

 blue air of a moonlit night. 



"How sweetly smells the Honeysuckle, in the 

 hush'd night as if the world were one of utter peace 

 and love and gentleness." 



