MYRTLE. 



MYRTLE {Myrtus communis). — LoVE. 

 " The Myrtle bough bids lovers live." — Walter Scott. 



The oak has ever been dedicated to Jupiter ; the laurel to 

 Apollo ; the olive to Minerva ; and the Myrtle to Venus. 

 Perpetual verdure, supple branches laden with fragrant 

 flowers, which seem destined to adorn the brow of Love, has 

 procured for the Myrtle the honour of being the tree of 

 Venus. The chief temple of that goddess at Rome was 

 surrounded by a myrtle grove. In Greece she was wor- 

 shipped under the name of Myrtea. When she rose from the 

 foam of the sea she was presented with a wreath of Myrtle. 

 She was crowned with Myrtle by the Cupids. Being sur- 

 prised by a band of Satyrs on coming out of her bath, she 

 took refuge behind a Myrtle bush. It was with a branch of 

 this tree that she chastised the audacious Psyche, who com- 

 pared her own fleeting beauty to the immortal loveliness of 

 the goddess. Subsequently the garland of Love has some- 

 times decorated the warrior's brow. After the rape of the 

 Sabines, the Romans crowned themselves with Myrtle in 

 honour of Venus victrix. The Myrtle crown then shared the 

 privilege of the Laurel, and shone upon the head of the suc- 

 cessful warrior in his triumph. 



Though the Triumphs of ancient Rome have passed away, 

 Roman ladies retain a taste for this pretty shrub. It is said 

 that they prefer its fragrance to the most precious essences, 

 and that they mix with their baths water distilled with 

 its leaves, under the idea that the tree of Venus bestows 



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