PLANT-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE 
255 
of the Crucifixion*.* “ They put a Reed in His right hand,” 
and “ they filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it upon a 
Reed and gave Him to drink.” The Reed in these passages 
was probably the Arundo donax, a very elegant Reed, which 
was used for many purposes in Palestine, and is a most graceful 
plant for English gardens, being perfectly hardy, and growing 
every year from 12 ft. to 14 ft. in height, but very seldom 
flowering. 1 
But in Shakespeare, as in most writers, the Reed is simply 
the emblem of weakness, tossed about by and bending to a 
superior force, and of little or no use—“ a Reed that will do 
me no service ” (No. 1). It is also the emblem of the blessed¬ 
ness of submission, and of the power that lies in humility to 
outlast its oppressor—• 
“ Like as in tempest great, 
Where wind doth bear the stroke, 
Much safer stands the bowing Reed 
Than doth the stubborn Oak.” 
Shakespeare mentions but two uses to which the Reed was 
applied, the thatching of houses (No. 3), and the making of 
Pan or Shepherd’s pipes (No. 6). Nor has he anything to say 
of its beauty, yet the Reeds of our river-sides (Arundo phrag- 
mites) are most graceful plants, especially when they have 
their dark plumes of flowers, and this Milton seems to have 
felt—• 
“ Forth flourish’t thick the clustering Vine, forth crept 
The swelling Gourd, up stood the Cornie Reed 
Embattled in her field. ”—Paradise Lost , book vii. 
1 I have only been able to find one record of the flowering of Arundo 
donax in England— u Mem. : Arundo donax in flower, September 15th, 
1762, the first time I ever saw it, but this very hot dry summer has made 
many exotics flower. ... It bears a handsome tassel of flowers.”— 
P. Collinson’s Hortus Collinsonianus. 
