PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
And by Ben Jonson— 
“ That love’s a Bitter-sweet I ne’er conceive 
Till the sour minute comes of taking leave, 
And then I taste it.” 1 — Underwoods . 
Parkinson names it in his list of Apples, but soon dismisses 
it—“Twenty sorts of Sweetings, and none good.” The name 
is now given to an Apple of no great value as a table fruit, but 
good as a cider Apple, and for use in silk dyeing. 2 
It is not easy to identify the Pomewater (21). It was highly 
esteemed both by Shakespeare (“it hangeth like a jewel in the 
ear of coelo ”) and many other writers. In Gerard’s figure it 
looks like a Codlin, and its Latin name is Mains carbonaria , 
which probably refers to its good qualities as a roasting Apple. 
The name Pomewater (or Water Apple) makes us expect a 
juicy but not a rich Apple, and with this agrees Parkinson’s 
description: “The Pomewater is an excellent, good, and great 
whitish Apple, full of sap or moisture, somewhat pleasant sharp, 
but a little bitter withall; it will not last long, the winter frosts 
soon causing it to rot and perish.” It must have been very 
like the modern Lord Suffield Apple, and though Parkinson 
says it will not last long, yet it is mentioned as lasting till the 
New Year in a tract entitled “Vox Graculi,” 1623. Speaking of 
New Year’s Day, the author says: “This day shall be given 
many more gifts than shall be asked for; and apples, egges, 
and oranges shall be lifted to a lofty rate; when a Pomewater 
bestuck with a few rotten cloves shall be worth more than the 
honesty of a hypocrite ” (quoted by Brand, vol. i. 17, Bohn’s 
edition). 
We have no such difficulty with the “ dish of Apple-johns ” 
(17 and 18). Hakluyt recommends “the Apple John that 
dureth two years to make show of our fruit ” to be carried by 
voyagers. 3 “ The Deusan (deux ans) or Apple-john,” says 
1 Juliet describes leave-taking in almost the same words—“Tarting is 
such sweet sorrow. ” 
For the spiritual lessons of the Bitter-sweet see S. Francis de Sale’s 
“Mystical Flora,” p. 121. 
3 “Voyages,” 1580, p. 466. 
