Laurel. Bay. 
3 2 7 
The laurel bears the classic appellation of Daphne , because 
of the ancient legend connecting it with the nymph of that 
name, who, according to Ovid, was daughter of the river-god 
Peneus. Apollo beheld her, and at once became enamoured of 
her beauty; but the fair Daphne fled from his importunities, 
and, fearful of being caught, called to the gods for assistance : 
they answered her prayers by transforming her into the laurel. 
Apollo finding that he held nothing but a hard tree in his 
embrace, saluted its vivid green leaves with fond kisses, crowned 
his head with its leaves, and ordained that ever after that tree 
should be sacred to his godhead. Ovid thus recounts this fact: 
“ I espouse thee for my tree: 
Be thou the prize of honour and renown; 
The deathless poet and the poem crown. 
Thou shalt the Roman festivals adorn, 
And, after poets, be by victors worn.” 
By the Romans this tree was as much honoured as it was by 
their Hellenic predecessors. The palace gates of the Caesars 
and of the chief priests were adorned by it; the emperors wore 
it, and their physicians recommended it; the generals were 
crowned with it in their triumphal processions, at which times, 
indeed, so far was its symbolism carried, that all the flags and 
warlike instruments were dressed up with it, and even every 
private soldier carried a sprig of it in his hand ; also despatches 
announcing a victory were wrapped up in, and ornamented 
with, leaves of bay. 
Even in the middle ages these trees retained their popularity, 
and thus we read of famous poets having been publicly crowned 
with wreaths of laurel. We may, with the authoress of “ Flora 
Domestica,” exclaim, “ How many grand and delightful images 
does the very name of this tree awaken in our minds ! The 
warrior thinks of the victorious general returning in triumph 
to his country, amidst the shouts of an assembled populace ; 
the prince of imperial Caesar, the poet, and the man of taste 
see Petrarch crowned in the Capitol. Women, who are enthu¬ 
siastic admirers of genius in any shape, think of all these by 
turns, and almost wonder how Daphne could have had the 
heart to run so fast from that most godlike of all heathen 
gods, Apollo.” 
Spenser seems to have felt with the weaker sex the slight 
