216 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
CYPRESS. 
MOURNING. 
The Cypress is an emblem of mourning. 
Shakspeare. 
According to Ovid, the Cypress derived its name 
from Cyprissos, an especial friend of Apollo's, who, 
in grief at having inadvertently killed a favourite 
stag of his, prayed the gods that his mourning might 
be made perpetual, and was changed into a Cypress 
tree, the branches of which were thenceforth used at 
funerals. 
Wherever these trees meet our view, their doleful 
look excites melancholy ideas. Their tall pyra- 
mids, pointed to the sky, moan when shaken by 
the wind. The sun's ray cannot penetrate through 
their gloom, and when his last beams throw their 
long shadows upon the ground, you will almost 
take them for dark phantoms. Sometimes the Cy- 
press raises its head among the flowery tenants of 
