122 The Tulip. 



clouds which surround the setting sun ; pyramids of cooling 

 fruits meet the eye at every turn, whilst innumerable birds of 

 song, whose golden cages are suspended by strings of pearl, 

 seem to mistake the scene for the arrival of Phoebus, and being 

 awaked by the delights of the feast, mix their warblings with the 

 melodious sounds of the instruments, which seem touched by in- 

 visible musicians. 



In the centre of the seraglio, a splendid pavilion shades the 

 Sultan, who carelessly reposes on the skins of the most costly 

 and curious animals, with all the nobles of the court in their richest 

 robes and shawls seated at his feet, to behold the winding dances 

 of the lovely women, in all the luxurious display of their light 

 and sparkling attire, who sometimes encircle and at others glide 

 around the vases of Tulips, whose beauty they celebrate in 

 song and action. During these festivals, Cupid often urges his 

 votaries to dare the bowstring of the Sultan, by making a sighing 

 Selim present a Tulip to a languishing Fatima. This gay flower 

 having been obtained from the Turks, was called TuLiPA,from the 

 resemblance of its corolla to the eastern head-dress called Titlipan, 

 or turban, and from hence our name Tulip, as well as those of 

 the French Tulipe, the Italian Tulipiano and the German Tulpe. 

 Moore alludes to this similarity in his Lalla Rookh. 



What triumph crowns the rich Divan to-day 

 With turbaned heads of every hue and race, 

 Bowing before that veiled and awful face ; 

 Like Tulip-beds of different shape and dyes, 

 Bending beneath the invisible west wind's sighs. 



We are not able to discover any mention of the Tulip in the 

 works of Pliny, which induces us to think that it is not an indi- 

 genous plant of the Levant, but that it was introduced from 

 Persia and other eastern parts in later days, and that it has 

 since so naturalized itself as to appear indigenous. Where 

 the climate allows the Tulip to propagate itself by seed so 

 readily as in the neighborhood of the Levant, it is not extraordi- 

 nary that it should be found growing in the wild state, as it is 

 frequently discovered in the vicinity of Constantinople. Mr. 

 Hobhouse tells us he found the Tulip growing spontaneously 

 under the hedges between Smyrna and Bournabat. But this 

 flower appears to have been scarce at Constantinople even so 



