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FLORAL EMBLEMS', 
LOVE. 
Myrtle.— Myrtus. 
“ The lover’s myrtle.” 
Thompson. 
“ Like a myrtle tree in flower 
Taken from an Asian bower. 
Where with many a dewy cup. 
Nymphs in play had nursed it up.” 
Hunt’s Catullus. 
“ The lover with the myrtle sprays. 
Adorns his crisped tresses.” 
Drayton. 
Mythological writers state that when Venus 
first sprang from the bosom of the waves, the 
Hours preceded her with a garland of myrtle, 
since which it has been dedicated to the god¬ 
dess of beauty, and made the emblem of love. 
“ Imperial passion ! sacred fire ! 
When we of meaner subjects sing. 
Thou tun’st our harp, thou dost our souls inspire; 
Tis love directs the quill, ’tis love strikes every string.” 
