Ill 
It was also used to deck the corpse, at least so Shaks- 
peare intimates in the following passage: — 
u My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, 
O prepare it! ” 
And at the tune of interment was carried by the 
mourners, and afterwards deposited beneath the body, its 
perpetual verdure being considered a happy emblem of 
the immortality of the soul. 
Few weeks have sped since from yonder pile 
A merry chime was rung, 
And blossoms meet for a fair young bride 
On the churchyard path were flung. 
But that chime is changed to a doleful knell, 
And those flowers so gay and fair 
To funeral wreaths — for the youthful bride 
Now lies shrouded on her bier. 
And by white-robed maids is she borne along 
To her grave beneath the shade 
Of the lonely yew, and oh! loud is their wail 
As the last sad rites are paid. 
