WATE11-L1LY. 453 



" The Lotus," says Dr. Shaw, " is the favourite vegetable 

 symbol of the old .Egyptians ; it attends the motions of the 

 sun, lies under water in his absence, and has its flowers, 

 leaves, and root of the same round figure with that lu- 

 minary." 



An Eastern poet writes (probably to his mistress), " If 

 you pass in the night-season through a garden, where the 

 Nilufar (Water-lily) is beneath the water, it lifts its head 

 above the surface, mistaking your lovely countenance for 

 the sun." 



The Persian poet, Jami, uses the same figure in speaking 

 of the patriarch Joseph, saying, that the brightness of his 

 countenance caused the Niltifar to emerge from the water*. 



In Japan, the Nymphaa nelumbo, another, and a very simi- 

 lar species, is frequently substituted for the Nymphaa Lotos. 

 Thunberg, in his Travels in Japan, says he frequently saw 

 the Nclumbo growing in the water ; that, on account of its 

 appearance, it was considered as a sacred plant, and pleasing 

 to the gods ; and that the images of idols were often repre- 

 sented sitting on its large leaves )-. 



Moore, in his notes to Lalla Rookh, observes, that in 

 some parts of Asia the women wear looking-glasses on 

 their thumbs : " Hence," says he, " (and from the lotus 

 being considered the emblem of beauty) is the meaning of 

 the following mute intercourse of two lovers before their 

 parents : 



" He with salute of deference due 

 A lotus to his forehead prest ; 

 She raised her mirror to his view, 

 Then turned it inward to her breast." 



In another part of the same poem, Moore compares the 

 eyes of Love to the blue Water-lily : 



* See Sir W. Ouseley's Travels, Vol. III. p 563. 

 t Thunbcrg's Travels, Vol. III. p. 22T. 



