"SWEET SUMMER BUDS" 219 



months with her mother above ground a beautiful 

 story of the life of the seed ! 



In nearly all the legends of the East in which 

 the word "apple" is mentioned it is the pomegranate 

 that is intended. It is said to have been the fruit 

 presented by Paris to Venus, and it is always asso- 

 ciated with love and marriage. 



In Christian art the pomegranate is depicted as 

 bursting open and showing the seeds. This is inter- 

 preted as both a promise and an emblem of hope in 

 immortality. St. Catharine, the mystical bride of 

 Christ, is sometimes represented with a pomegranate 

 in her hand. The infant Savior is also often repre- 

 sented as holding the fruit and offering it to the 

 Virgin: Botticelli's "Madonna of the Melagrana" 

 is a famous example. 



There is also a legend that because the pome- 

 granate was planted on the grave of King Eteocles, 

 the fruit has exuded blood ever since. The number 

 of seeds has caused it to become the symbol of 

 fecundity, generation, and wealth. 



MYRTLE (Myrtus latifolia) was looked upon 

 in Shakespeare's time as a delicate and refined rarity, 

 emblem of charming beauty and denoting peaceful- 

 ness, plenty, repose, and love. Shakespeare makes 

 Venus and Adonis meet under a myrtle shade; he 



