T. baccata 



with the following lines. In describing the self- 

 sacrifice by fire of Dido he speaks thus of the 

 necessary preparations : 



" The fatal pile they rear 

 Within the secret court, exposed in air. 

 The cloven Holms and Pines are heaped on high, 

 And garlands in the hollow spaces lie. 

 Sad Cypress, Vervain, Yew, compose the wreath 

 And every baleful flower denoting death. " 



The death of unfortunate lovers, we are told, 

 was at one time made the custom for covering 

 biers with Yew, Willow, and Rosemary, and this 

 may have been the reason for Francis Beaumont 

 and John Fletcher, in The Maid's Tragedy, in- 

 serting the following lines : 



" Lay a garland on my hearse 



Of the dismal Yew ; 

 Maidens, Willow branches bear. 

 Say that I died true." 



Shakespeare alludes to the use of Yew in con- 

 nection with the dead in the following lines : 



" My shroud of white, struck all with Yew, 

 Oh ! prepare it." 



Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc. 4. 



In Romeo and Juliet, act. v. sc. 3, the Yew 

 is connected with churchyard associations, as 

 follows : 



" Under yon Yew-tree lay thee all along, 

 Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground ; 

 So shall my foot upon the churchyard tread 

 (Being loose, infirm, with digging up of graves) 

 But thou shalt hear it." 

 165 



