142 
I’HE LOVER’S OFFERING, 
AMARANTH 
Its Sentiment is Immortality. Thus it 
was regarded by the ancients. Hence we 
read of the Crowns of Amaranth, and Am¬ 
aranthine JBowers, and Crowns. The an¬ 
cients adorned the brows of their deities 
with its crimson flowers. At the funeral 
rites of Achilles, the Thessalians en- 
wreathed their heads with Amaranth, and 
Christina of Sweden, when she renounced 
her throne in order to obtain immortality, 
by devoting herself to literature, institu¬ 
ted the Order of “The Knights of the 
Amaranth,” to immortalise the sacrifice. 
—Amaranth is the striking emblem of un¬ 
dying faithfulness, love, and friendship. 
THE CROWN OF AMARANTH. 
The warrior round his temples 
May bind the laurel wreath, 
But a curse is on its greenness, 
The curse of blood and death: 
This blight will quickly wither 
The fairest wreath of bay, 
