MYRTLE. 261 



The Myrtle's fondness for the sea-shore is noticed by 

 Virgil in his Georgics : 



nee sera comantem 



Narcissum, aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi, 

 Pallentesque hederas, et amantes litora myrtos." 



GEORGIC 4. 



" Nor had I passed in silence the late-flowering daffodil, the stalks 

 of the flexile acanthus, the pale ivy, or the myrtle that loves the 

 shore." DAVIDSON'S TRANSLATION. 



And again : 



" Litora myrtetis laetissima." 



The same poet, in his Pastorals, alludes to the fragrance 

 of the Myrtle-blossom : 



" Et vos, 6 lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte ; 

 Sic positse quoniam suaves miscetis odores." 



" And you, ye laurels, I will crop ; and thee, O myrtle, next in 

 dignity to the laurel; for thus arranged, you mingle sweet perfumes." 



So Davidson translates this passage : the words in Italics 

 marking an interpolation, or rather a necessary explanation 

 of the preceding adjective. 



It was impossible that Spenser should omit the Myrtle 

 in the garden of Adonis : 



" Right in the middest of that paradise 



There stood a stately mount, on whose round top 



A gloomy grove of myrtle-trees did rise, 



Whose shady boughs sharp steel did never lop, 



Nor wicked beasts their tender buds did crop ; 



But like a garland compassed the height. 



And from their fruitful sides sweet gum did drop, 



That all the ground with precious dew bedight, 



Threw forth most dainty odours and most sweet delight. 



And in the thickest covert of that shade 

 There was a pleasant arbour, not by art, 

 But by the trees' own inclination made ; 



