Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-10-23
Plants in Literature and Superstition.

| The earliest folklore OF India de-
| scrlbed tree whose fruit eaten by the
| birds made them immortal, in such o
manner as to suggest the tree of life,
which with us has become household
/ word. Nor hern mythology had tree
which was wide as the universe. The
| gods met under its shadow. and guard
ians, which typified past, present and
| future, protected the sacred growth.
| When the sacredness of the tree was so
early an article of religious faith we
can no longer wonder at the reverential
feelings the Druids had for the oak
trees; nor that Bryant should have been
| inspired to write that great invocation
which begins:
THE groves were Gods first temples
Study of that poem might add breadth
to the character of even q professional
naturalist. 1t could hardly fail to
warm one neg ected side of his nature
the emotional. Poetleal illusions to
liant life are not all weakened by the
license of inaccuracy. Tennyson's .'In
Memoriam" contains in that address to
the Yew tree, which begins, tsOld
warder of these buried bones" three
clear statements of scientific facts, that
is, one in each third line of each stanza.
OF these the second one is a. distinct
statement of the doctrine of cross-fer-
tilization.
..Evangeline" contains at least one
hundred and fifty illusions to plant
life. And the scene in the Bayou of
ilaquemine, even if it lacks the ac-
curacy of science, is nevertheless an
affective picture of the dreary surround
ings. His '.Sea Weed is exquisite in
measure and euphony:
when descends on the Atlantic
The gigantic
Storm-wind of the Equinox,
Landwa ard il mis- wrath he scourges
The toiling surgeS,
Laden with seaweed from the rocks"
Lee Hunts chorus of Flowers is
philosophy as well as poetry The
same might be said of Burns Address
| to the Daisy" Lowel's verses on the
dandehon give q complete picture of
chIld-life in spring. Tom Hoods
poem, Flowers contains illusions to
nearly every human trait. Read Bay
ard Iayiors lines on the s.Palm,
where, after his sweetheart and his
horse, the Arab says:
Next to ye both, love the Palm,
With leaves OF beauty, his fruit of balm;
Next to ye both, love the tree,
Whose fiutJerinas shadow wraps us three
With love- and silence, and mystery.
The last stanza of Fenner's "Gulf
Weed" appeals to every human heart
and TO every restless mind that seeks
wider sphere
Burns Petition of Bruar Water"
in charming measure, explains the re-
lation between shaue of the trees and
the conservation of rainfall. So. too,
does his poem on John Barleycorn tell
ho 10, IF no foil
through deluge of Scotch whisky,
while James Smith uses the tabled
| upas to Illustrate the gin curse of En-
gland.
| "Brittania this Upas Tree bought of Mynheer,
Removed it through Holland and planted iE
here;
'Tis now stock plant of the genus VOLTS
hane,
And one of them blossoms in Marybone lane"
1t is somewhat remarkable in all that
| Shakespeare has written, how few are
his allusions to plant life. True, there
are many of them, and always wonder
| fully forcible; out, as compared with
/ Bryant. they are not common.
| He seldom Appeared 10 need them
| for his own ideas, but used the plants
more when he touched on the opinions
and superstitions of others. Macbeth
contains some of his choicest illusions.
Root of hemlock, slips of yew and Bir-
nam wood, all are pungent with mean
| ing. So, too. is the phrase, '' It's in
his buttons" in the ':Merry Wives OF
! Windsor
The midsummer Nights Dream" IN
one sense hinges on the relative strength
of supernatural force residing in the
pansy and IN the bud of Angus Castus.
| Prof. Rathrock, Fairmount Park Leo
| lures.