AMARANTH. 
(Immortality.) 
“ Immortal amaranth.”— Milton. 
vWjjiOST poetical of all flowers in meaning is the 
l^jg. Amaranth. It has been selected as the symbol 
of immortality , and has ever been associated with 
Death as the portal through which the soul must pass to 
Eternity. Milton gives crowns of amaranth to the 
angelic multitude assembled before the Deity: 
“To the ground 
With solemn adoration down they cast 
Their crowns inwove with amaranth and gold. 
Immortal amaranth—a flower which once 
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, 
Began to bloom : but soon for man’s offence 
To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows 
And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life, 
And where the river of bliss, through midst of heaven 
Rolls o’er Elvsian flowers her amber stream : 
With these that never fade the spirits elect 
Bind their resplendent locks enwreathed with beams ; 
Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright 
Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone, 
Impurpled with celestial rosy smile.” 
These flowers if gathered and dried will long preserve 
their beauty. 
One of the most popular species of the amaranth is the 
“ Love-lies-bleeding.” The origin of this singular appel¬ 
lation is not known, but it has been suggested that the 
