CYPRESS TREE. 115 



balsamic scent guards the attendants against the infec- 

 tion to be apprehended from a putrid body." 



And it is worthy of notice, that most of the trees and 

 plants more particularly used on these occasions are fra- 

 grant ; as the tree in question, the wood of which has a 

 sweet and powerful scent ; rosemary, basil, vervain, as- 

 phodel, &c. The yew has a powerful scent rather than 

 a sweet one. 



The Cypress is often praised for its sweet odour : 



And a brook 



Flowing from out a little gravelly nook 

 Keeps green the laurel and the myrtle trees 

 And odorous cypresses." 



HUNT, from Theocritus. 



Homer speaks of its fragrance in his description of the 

 cave of Calypso, in the fifth book of the Odyssey. 



Virgil repeatedly introduces the Cypress at the funeral 

 rites of his heroes ; as at that of Misenus : 



" Ingentem struxere pyram : cui frondibus atris 

 Intexunt latera, et ferales ante cupressos 

 Constituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis." 



ENEID, book vi. 



" First from the ground a lofty pile they rear 

 Of pitch-trees, oaks, and pines, and unctuous fir ; 

 The fabrick's front with cypress-twigs they strew, 

 And stick the sides with boughs of baleful yew. 

 The topmost part his glittering arms adorn " 



DRYDKN'S Translation. 



Tasso uses it on a similar occasion : 



" Sorse a pari col sole, ed egli stesso 

 Seguir la pompa funeral poi voile 

 A Dudon d'odorifero cipresso 

 Composto hanno un sepolcro a pie d'un colle 



