YEW TREE. 405 



In the fourth Georgic he desires that there be no Yew 

 trees near their hives : 



" Neu propius tectis taxum sine." 



Wordsworth speaks of the Yew as rather disagreeable 

 to bees than injurious : 



" Nay, traveller ! rest. This lovely yew-tree stands 

 Far from all human dwelling : what if here 

 No sparkling rivulet spread the verdant herb ? 

 What if these barren boughs the bees not love ? 

 Yet if the wind breathe soft, the curling waves 

 That break against the shore, shall lull thy mind 

 By one soft impulse saved from vacancy *." 



" Louring in the groves of death, 

 Yew trees breathe funereal breath." 



" The resin soft, and solitary yew 

 For ever dropping with unwholesome dew." 



HARTE'S Statius. 



It may be worthy the attention of the humane to con- 

 sider how far the melancholy character of the Yew may 

 proceed from its solitary life. Dean Swift throws out a 

 hint on this subject which might be turned to advantage. 

 The story of Baucis and Philemon is, doubtless, familiar 

 to the reader. Some writers have affirmed that the 

 hospitable couple were transformed to limes, but the 

 Dean contradicts this assertion : 



" Description would but tire my muse : 

 In short, they both were turned to yews. 

 Old Goodman Dobson of the green 



* Lines left on a seat in a yew tree, near the Lake of Esthwaite 

 on a desolate part of the shore. 



