Autumn 



"HERBS OF GRACE" AND "DRAMS OF 

 POISON" 



Rosemary and Rue 



ROSEMARY (Rosmarinus officinalis). Rose- 

 mary "delights in sea-spray," whence its 

 name. "The cheerful Rosemary," as Spen- 

 ser calls it, was in high favor in Shakespeare's day. 

 The plant was not only allowed a corner in the 

 kitchen-garden; but it was trained over arbors and 

 allowed to run over the mounds and banks pretty 

 much at its own sweet will. "As for Rosemarie," 

 said Sir Thomas More, "I let it run all over my gar- 

 den walls, not only because my bees love it, but be- 

 cause it is the herb sacred t) remembrance, and, 

 therefore, to friendship ; whence a spray of it hath a 

 dumb language that maketh it the chosen emblem 

 at our funeral-wakes and in our burial-grounds." 

 Ophelia handed a sprig of rosemary to her brother 



with the words: "There 's rosemary; That 's for re- 



224 



