THE POPLAR AND THE WILLOW. Ill 



preservatives of the genus. The last-named feature 

 has obtained for the willow a place in the " Language 

 of Flowers." When the poet would picture sadness, 

 he needs only to cite this drooping and sorrowful 

 tree ; the very name is a synonyme for grief 

 beyond assuaging. Ho-v deep the meaning in the 

 description of poor, forsaken, desolated Dido, 



In such a night, 



Stood Dido with a willow in her hand, 

 Upon the wild sea-banks, and waved her love 

 To come again to Carthage. 



In pictures such as these we have the sign of the 

 true and immortal Poet, who, without wordy de- 

 lineation of the varied passions that may fill the 

 heart, presents to us, in a single phrase, a perfect 

 idea of its condition. Even the erect kinds of 

 willow have none of that pretty cheerfulness about 

 them which belongs to most other trees. Although 

 the springing of the willows " by the water- 

 courses " is used as an illustration of gladness 

 and prosperity, they seem by nature intended for 

 association rather with times of mournfulness than 

 of joy. Possibly this may arise from their being so 

 very generally located by the water-side, on the 

 banks of slow streams and rivers, where the mind 

 becomes attuned to melancholy, and even the reeds 

 convey utterances of dejection. Hence, it would 

 appear, the frequent connection, both of the willow 

 and the poplar, with events that have a hue of 



