24 DEOPS FROM FLORA'S CUP. 
TILE POPPY. 
Fabulous history tolls us that the poppy was sacrod to the goddess 
Ceres ; because, in her distress for the loss of her daughter Proserpioe, 
who was borne away by Pluto, Jupiter gave her poppies to eat, that she 
might slumber, and forget her sorrows. The palace of Somnus or Sleep 
(an infernal deity) is represented by Ovid, as a dark and dismal cave, 
at the entrance of which grew poppies and other somniferous plants. 
The poppy has been celebrated on aocount of its narcotic quality; it 
yields a juice, which is used to relieve pain and procure sleep; hence it 
made the symbol of consolation. 
OVID. 
Near the Cimmerians, lurks a cave, in steep 
And hollow hills, the mansion of dull Sleep. 
Before the entrance, fruitful poppy grows; 
With numerous simples, from whose juicy birth 
Night gathers sleep, and sheds it o’er the earth. 
MURPHY. 
Kind sleep affords 
The only boon the wretched mind can feel; 
A momentary respite from despair. 
JOSEPH TAYLOR. 
When jocund summer leads her laughing hours, 
And decks her zone witli odorific flowers, 
’T is then thy charms attract the vulgar gaze, 
And tempt the view with meretricious blaze j 
Caught by thy glare, with pleasure they behold 
Thy glowing crimson melting J nto gold. 
