122 THE POETRY OF FLOWERS 
IMMORTALITY. 
AMARANTH. 
The amaranth is one of the latest gifts of autumn, and when 
dead its flowers retain their rich scarlet colour. The ancients 
have associated it with supreme honours; choosing it to adorn 
the brows of their gods. Poets have sometimes mingled its 
bright hue with the dark and gloomy cypress, wishing to ex¬ 
press that their sorrows were combined with everlasting recol¬ 
lections. Homer tells us, that, at the funeral of Achilles, the 
Thessalians presented themselves wearing crowns of amaranth. 
Milton, in his gorgeous description of the court of heaven, 
mentions the amaranth as being inwoven in the diadem of 
angels. 
Love and friendship are adorned with amaranth. In the 
garland of Julie, we find the four following lines: 
Je suis la fleur d’amour qu’amarante on appelle, 
Et quiviens de Julie adorer les beaux yeux. 
Roses, retirez-vous ; jai le nom d’immortelle, 
II n’appartient qu’a moi de couronner les dieux. 
Christina, queen of Sweden, who wished to immortalize her¬ 
self by renouncing the throne to cultivate letters and philoso¬ 
phy, instituted the order of “knights of the amaranth.” The 
decoration of that order is a medal of gold, enriched with a 
flower of the amaranth in enamel, with this motto: “ Dolce 
nella memoria.” 
In the floral games at Toulouse, the prize for the best lyrical 
verses is a golden amaranth. 
Fling, fling the wreath of Bacchus down ! 
For they who wear its vine-leaves here, 
Forego the glorious amaranth-crown 
Of angels in a holier sphere. 
f. s. o. 
