142 
LANGUAGE AND 
Of the three varieties of this shrub, the blue, 
the violet, and the white have been thus prettily 
described: “Nature seems to have delighted in 
making a finished production of each of their 
delicate clusters, massive in themselves, and yet 
astonishing by their variety and beauty. The 
gradation of their tints, from the first purplish 
bud to the blanching flower, is the smallest fas¬ 
cination of their charming blossoms, round 
which the rainbow seems to revel and to dissolve 
into a hundred shades and colors, which, com¬ 
mingling in the general tone and hue, produce 
a happy harmony that might well baffle the 
painter and confound the observer.” 
Lilac, or lilag —a Persian word signifying 
“ flower”—is supposed to have been introduced 
into Europe from Persia early in the sixteenth 
century by Busbeck, a German traveller. 
Mrs. Sigourney, in allusion to its native land, 
addresses it : 
“ Lilac of Persia ! Tell us some fine tale 
Of Eastern lands; we’re fond of travellers. 
Have you no legends of some sultan proud, 
Or old fire-worshipper ? What! not one note 
Made on your voyage? Well, ’tis wondrous strange 
That you should let so rare a chance pass by, 
While those who never journeyed half so far 
Fill sundry volumes, and expect the world 
To reverently peruse and magnify 
What it well knew before!” 
