222 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



To favor lovers with their friendly shade, 



There Phaedra, Procris (ancient poets feign) 



And Eriphyle still of love complain 



Whose unextinguished flames e'en after death remain. 



The Romans always displayed myrtle lavishly 

 at weddings, feasts, and on all days celebrating vic- 

 tories. With the Hebrews the myrtle was the 

 symbol of peace; and among many Oriental races 

 there is a tradition that Adam brought a slip of 

 myrtle from the Garden of Eden because he consid- 

 ered it the choicest of fragrant flowers. 



The myrtle was early loved in England. In one 

 of the old Roxburgh Ballads of the Fifteenth Cen- 

 tury a lover presses his suit by promising : 



And I will make the beds of Roses, 

 And a thousand fragrant posies ; 

 A cap of flowers and a kirtle 

 Embroidered with leaves of myrtle. 



In those days and long afterward there was a 

 saying that "if you want to be sure of your myrtle 

 taking root, then you must spread out your dress 

 grandly and look proud" when you are planting 

 your slip. We can imagine one of the Fifteenth Cen- 

 tury ladies spreading her voluminous and flowing 

 robes with majestic grace and holding her head 

 adorned with the tall pointed cap, or hennin, with 



