213 
BIIAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 
introduced into this country by Lady Mary Wortley 
Montague; but in the modern system nothing is pre¬ 
served of the fresh poetry and brilliancy of thought 
which characterized the floral symbolism of ancient 
Eastern nations. The rich imagery and startling truth 
of the Eastern metaphors and symbols have crumbled 
into ruin, like the temples dedicated to their gods. 
Sickly and weak as is the modern language of flowers, 
it has been rendered still more tame by its universal 
adoption in the intercourse of life; instead of being pre¬ 
served as a part of religious worship, and of the highest 
forms of poetry. In Turkey, you may, through the 
assistance of these emblems, either quarrel, reproach, or 
send letters of passion, friendship, or civility, or even 
news, without ever inking your fingers ; for there is no 
colour, no weed, no flower, no fruit, herb, nor feather, 
that has not a verse belonging to it. So, too, no 
Turkish lady would send a congratulatory message, or a 
ceremonious invitation, without sending with it some 
emblematical flowers carefully wrapped in an embroi¬ 
dered handkerchief, made fragrant by the odours of 
flowers, which convey also an emblematical meaning. 
But these are merely fragments of the ancient customs 
of the Eastern nations, where all was symbol, emblem, and 
allegory; and where the imagination usurped the power 
and controlled even the affairs of the State. 
These emblematic verses are in the form of enigmas, 
and are founded on a sort of crambo, or bout rime . 
M. Hamma has collected about a hundred specimens, 
but they are exceedingly untranslatable. We quote 
three of the most manageable :— 
