LAUREL. BAY. 
(Glory.) 
(Fame.) 
“We crown with the laurel wreath 
The hero-god, the soldier chief.”— Eliza Cook. 
“ Sweet bay-tree, symbol of the song that dreaming poet sings.” 
Ibid. 
“The victor’s garland, and the poet’s crown.”—W. Browne. 
M 
HE sweet bay was deemed by both Greeks and 
Romans emblematic of Victory and Clemency. 
The glories of all grand deeds were signalized by 
means of laurel crowns; its leaves were deemed very 
efficacious in the prevention of illness, and its shelter was 
believed to ward off lightning. 
This presumed power is alluded to in the device of the 
Count de Dunois, which Madame de Genlis mentions as 
being a bay-tree, with the motto, “ I defend the earth 
that bears me f and Leigh Hunt, in his “ Descent of 
Liberty,” thus adverts to the belief: 
“ Long have you my laurels worn, 
And though some under-leaves be torn 
Here and there, yet what remains 
Still its pointed green retains, 
And still an easy shade supplies 
To your calm-kept watchful eyes. 
Only would you keep it brightening 
And its power to shake the lightning 
Harmless down its glossy ears, 
Suffer not so many years 
To try what they can bend and spoil.” 
