AMARANTH. 
181 
Perchance thou hast seen this sight, and then, 
As I at thy years might do, 
Passed carelessly by, nor turned again 
That scathed wreck to view. 
But now I can draw from that moldering tree 
Thoughts which are soothing and dear to me. 
Oh ! smile not, nor think it a worthless thins 
If it be with instructions fraught; 
That which will closest and longest cling 
Is alone worth a serious thought! 
Should aught be unlovely which thus can shed 
Grace on the dying, and leaves on the dead ? 
AMARANTH. 
{Immortality.) 
“Immortal amaranth.” —Mii.ton. 
TVyrOST poetical of all flowers in meaning is the 
Amaranth. It has been selected as the symbol 
of immortality, and has ever been associated with 
Death as the portal through which the soul must pass 
to Eternity. Milton gives crowns of amaranth to the 
angelic multitude assembled before the Deity : 
“ To the ground 
With solemn adoration down they cast 
Their crowns inwove with amaranth and gold. « 
Immortal amaranth—a flower which once 
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 
Began to bloom : but soon for man’s offense 
