THE AMARANTH. 



few lines. The author regrets the rapid flight of time and 

 the fleeting beauty of summer flowers, and then adds, — • 



"Je t'aper^ois, belle at noble Amarante ! 

 Tu viens m'ofFrir, pour charmer mes douleurs. 

 De ton velours la richesse ^clatante ; 

 Ainsi la main de I'amiti^ constante, 

 Quand tout nous fuit, vient essuyer nos pleurs. 

 Ton doux aspect de ma lyre plaintive 

 A ranim^ les accords languissants. 

 Dernier tribut de Flore fugitive, 

 EUe nous l^gue, avec la fleur tardive, 

 Lc' souvenir de ses premiers presents." 



Queen Christina of Sweden, who wished to win for herself a 

 name, by abdicating the throne that she might devote herself 

 to literature and philosophy, founded an Order of Knights 

 of the Amaranth. The decoration of this order is a gold 

 medal, embellished with an Amaranth in enamel, with the 

 motto, Dolce tiella memoria. 



In the floral games at Toulouse, the prize for the best 

 lyric songs is a golden Amaranth. 



Our own Milton was not unmindful of the claims of the 

 Amaranth to be inwoven in- his undying verse, though he 

 imagines a flower which, transplanted from earth, should 

 bloom for ever in heaven. Describing the worship of the 

 Almighty Creator, when He had spoken to the angels of 

 the " new heaven and earth," he says, 



"To the ground 

 With solemn adoration down they cast 

 Their crowns inwove with Amarant and gold, 

 Immortal Amarant, a flower which once 



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