THE JESSAMINE. 



Jasminum officinale. 



ASMIN THE TROUBADOUR, 



who happily hails from Agen, 

 " content and poor/' makes 

 boast of his name as allied to 

 the " stem of Jesse." For this 

 plant is variously called Jas- 

 mine, Jessamine, and Jesse : 

 its Arabic name being Ysmyn, 

 and its Persian name Jdsemin. 

 And it is a question of some 

 interest whether, in the pro- 

 phetic utterances, " the stem/' 

 " the root/' " the rod/' and 

 " the branch " of Jesse were 

 associated with any plant that 

 had the value of a symbol. 

 It is not an idle question, as may be 

 seen on reference to the tree of Jesse 

 in the east window at Dorchester, Oxon ; 

 for however the artist may draw on his 

 imagination in such a work, he is likely to be governed 

 by an idea derived from a consideration of facts, and 

 the jessamine, if admissible in such a case, is peculiarly 

 I 



