82 FAMILIJIi GAUTiF.X FLOWEHS. 



was to be emidoyetl in the taLeniacle (Ex. xxv. 33) ; aud 

 the symbol obtained special significance when the rod of 

 Aaron, in the tabernacle of witness, brought forth buds, 

 aud bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds (jSTum. xvii. 8). 

 These passages testify to the importance of the tree in 

 Palestine, of which it is a uati\'e ; and they suggest an in- 

 heritance of ideas from the further East, for the almond 

 lias a considerable rauo'e in Arabia and Persia. To be valued 

 for its fruit b\' uomads little given to cultivation was a 

 matter of necessity. But we are taken into the region of 

 true poetry when it is perceived that the acceptance of 

 the almond as a sj'mbol under Divine sanction turns upon 

 its tlowering- first amongst all the trees of the wood, and 

 in such haste that it cannot wait to appear in its proper 

 garments. To the Oriental mind, sensitive to imagery, and 

 leaning to the ideal in the observation of nature, such 

 simple facts are pregnant with deeper meanings than 

 Western thought is capable of grasping without au effort. 



But in these less fanciful lands the almond does not 

 escape such honours as poets can bestow. Spenser crowns 

 tlie great Arthur with the bloom of the immortal tree by 

 means of a splendid figure : — 



" Upon the top of ;ill, his lofty crest — 

 A himth of hairs discolour' d diversly, 

 AVith sprinkled pearl and gold full richly drest — 

 Did shake, and seem'd to dance for jollity. 

 Like to an almond-tree ^inounted high 

 On top of green Selinis all alone, 

 AVith blossoms hrave bedecked daintily, 

 AVhose tender locks do tremble every one 

 At c^'ery little breath that under heaven is blown." 



A good old Greek fal;ile associates the tree ^\•ith human 

 sjnipathies in a more serious way than in the allegory 



