199 
MOURNING. 
ie I CYPRESS. 
^ j The mournful cypress rises round, 
id Tapering from the burial ground. 
| LUCAN. 
The cypress is the universal emblem of 
[S mourning, and is the funeral tree in the eastern 
world, from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian 
Sea; it is also dedicated to the dead, from 
! e s Mazanderan to Constantinople, as well as to 
the utmost bounds of China’s fruitful shores. 
Ovid gives us a traditionary account of the 
mournful origin of the cypress tree, and we 
always find it devoted to mournful thoughts, 
or sad solemnities. Cyparissus, son of Tele- 
phus of Cea, was beloved by Apollo. Having 
killed the favourite stag of his friend, he griev¬ 
ed, pined, and, dying, was changed by Apollo 
into a cypress tree. Calmet describes it to be 
) a tall, straight tree, having bitter leaves. The 
shade and smell were said to be dangerous ; 
hence the Romans looked on it as a fatal 
tree, and made use of it at funerals. It is an 
evergreen ; the wood is heavy, of rather a 
fragrant smell, — is not liable to be attacked 
by insects, and does not speedily decay. 
Shakspere says that cypress is the emblem 
