TAXA^CEiE. Ta'xUS. 



" This foul reproach Ascanius could not bear 

 With patience, or a vow'd revenge forbear : 

 At the lull stretch of both his hands, he drew, 

 And almost join'd, the horns of the tough yew." 



In the Georgics, the yew is frequently mentioned ; and those who keep bees 

 are cautioned not to place their hives near yew trees. 



Among the old English poets, the yew is frequently mentioned ; and, as 

 an example, we may copy the following lines from Herrick, as quoted by one 

 of the most elegant poetesses of the present day, Miss Twamley. Herrick 

 thus addresses the cypress and the yew : — 



" Both of you have 

 Relation to the grave ; 



And where 

 The fun'rale trump sounds you are there. 



I shall be made 

 Ere long a fleeting shade : 



Pray come, 

 And do some honor to my tomb. 



Do not deny 

 My last request, for I 



Will be 

 Thankful to you, or friends for me." (See Romance of Nature, Sec.) 



Shakspeare mentions the yew as being used for bows :— 



" The very beadsmen learn to bend their bows 

 Of double fatal yew against thy state." 



He also alludes to its being employed in funerals : — " My shroud of 

 white, stuck all with yew." Many other poets allude to its connexion with 

 ideas of death. Blair says, addressing himself to the grave : — 



" Well do I know thee by thy trusty yew ; 

 Cheerless unsocial plant, that loves to dwell 

 'Midst skulls and coffins, epitaphs and worms ; 

 Where light-heeled ghosts, and visionary shades, 

 Beneath the wan cold moon (so fame reports), 

 Embedied thick, perform their mystic rounds ; 

 No other merriment, dull tree, is thine." 

 6 t 3 



