C YPRESS. 
( Mourning .) 
“The cypress is the emblem of mourning.”—S hAkspeare. 
CCORDING to Ovid, this tree was named after 
Cyparissus, an especial favourite of Apollo. He 
had accidentally slain his pet stag, and was so 
sorrow-stricken that he besought the gods to doom his life 
to everlasting gloom; and they in compliance with his 
request, transformed him into a cypress-tree. 
“ When, lost in tears, the blood his veins forsakes, 
His every limb a grassy hue partakes ; 
His flowing tresses, stiff and bushy grown, 
Point to the stars, and taper to a cone, 
Apollo thus : ‘ Ah ! youth, beloved in vain, 
Long shall thy boughs the gloom I feel retain : 
Henceforth, when mourners grieve, their grief to share, 
Emblem of woe the cypress shall be there.’ ” 
THE CYPRESS WREATH. 
SIR W. SCOTT. 
O lady, twine no wreath for me, 
Or twine it of the cypress-tree ! 
Too lively glow the lilies light, 
The varnished holly’s all too bright, 
The May-flower and the eglantine 
May shade a brow less sad than mine; 
But, lady, weave no wreath for me, 
Or weave it of the cypress-tree. 
