94 
Thyme. .. .Activity. 
Among the ancient Greeks, Thyme denoted the grace¬ 
ful elegance of the Attic style; because it covered Mount 
Hymettus, and gave an aromatic flavour to the honey 
made there. Those writers who had mastered the Attic 
style were said “to smell of Thyme/' Flies of all 
shapes, beetles of all hues, bright butterflies, and vigi¬ 
lant bees for ever surround the flower tufts of Thyme, 
and they thus seem to teem with life. Activity is a 
warlike virtue, and is ever associated with true courage. 
On this notion, the ladies of the days of chivalry em¬ 
broidered on the scarfs which they presented to their 
knights the figure of a bee hovering about a sprig of 
Thyme. 
I am not old,—though years have cast 
Their shadows on my way; 
I am not old,— ; though youth has passed, 
On rapid wings away. 
For in my heart a fountain flows, 
And round it pleasant thoughts repose; 
And sympathies, and feelings high, 
Spring like stars on evening’s sky. 
Park Benjamin. 
The thrifty Thyme a home can find, 
Where smiles the sun, and breathes the wind. 
Mrs. Hale. 
