34 " THE WOKM l' THE BUD." 



noticed so ordinary an occurrence. "We accordingly 

 find reference made to it in more than one instance. 

 Thus Borachio, in " Much Ado about Nothing," 

 speaks of " the smirch'd moth-eaten tapestry ;" and 

 when the visitor of Virgilia is wishing her to " lay 

 aside her stitchery " and play the idle huswife," she 

 tauntingly says, " You would be another Penelope ; 

 yet they say aU the yarn she spun in Ulysses' absence 

 did but fill Ithaca full of moths." — Coriolanus, Act I. 

 Sc. III. 



There is another insect of the same family whose 

 choice of a dwelling e\dnces a more refined luxurious- 

 ness, if, indeed, we are warranted in making use, 

 even metaphorically, of such a term, when to every 

 insect the food destined for its support is that which 

 is most grateful to its palate. The larva I allude 

 to (Lozotcenia Rosana) passes by the " smirch'd ta- 

 pestr)^" and chooses for its domicile " the fresh lap 

 of the crimson rose." It there lives among the 

 blossoms, and prevents the possibihty of their further 

 developement. Tlie stop thus put to the ordinary 

 course of vegetation must early have excited the 

 attention of all who take delight in the " innocent 

 flower," and hence we find — 



" the bud bit with an envious worm 



Ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the air, 

 Or dedicate his beauty to the same " — 



{Romeo and Juliet, Act I. Sc. I.) 



