AMARANTH. 
227 
Sad Amaranthus, in whose purple gore 
Meseems I see Amintas’ wretched fate, 
To whom sweet poets’ verse hath given endless date. 
Spenser. 
Milton, too, in his Lycidas, classes it among 
the flowers “ that sad embroidery wear 
Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed, 
And daffodillies fill their cups with tears, 
To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies. 
In modern times, the Amaranth has given 
its name to an order instituted by Queen Chris¬ 
tina of Sweden, in the year 1633, at an enter¬ 
tainment given in honour of Don Antonio_Pi- 
mentel, the Spanish Ambassador. On this oc¬ 
casion she appeared in a dress covered with 
diamonds, attended by a suite of sixteen nobles 
of her court and the same number of ladies. At 
the conclusion of the ball, she stripped herself 
of the diamonds and distributed them among 
the company, at the same time presenting the 
new order of knighthood, consisting of a rib¬ 
bon and medal, with an Amaranth in enamel, 
encircled with the motto: “ Dolce nella me - 
moria." 
