Evening star., 1932-07-04
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES e. TRAcEWELL.

confused and thought the eglantine was
come sort of vine in his L'Allegro":
Through the sweetbrier, or the vine,
Or the twisted eglantine"
Perhaps he thought 1t was another
name for the honeysuckle, less fire.
quertly called the woodbine.
No doubt the old herbalists were
nearer to the truth, and quite as poeti
cal. when they described it simply as "a
shrub with white flowers"
Although a great lover Of poetry, We
always have been able to see why the
poetical art often strikes perfectly prac-
use the unlovely but vigorous modern
expression.
II one will read over again these
characteristic quotations from some Of
our best artists. he will see that their
authors we're working rather hard to
make out case for the eglantine,
which. in its own modest beauty, needed
no advocate.
This plain Jane will finally come to
the notice of all those who love flowers,
maybe in its own right as something to
be selected and planted. or as a gift OF
a few blossoms in vase.
So this is the eglantinel
Instinctively one wants to pronounce
it with that last syllable rhyming with
"een."
But how could the poets make it
rhyme with vine" in that case?
So 1.-The eyes have it."
Nevermore shall we call 1t "eglan-
teen" unless we forget, as no doubt we
shall
It makes no difference, how one calls
1t; what does count with this flower is
its sweet odor.
The poets we're right, after all, in
bearing down upon the fragrance of the
eglantine. Like the odor Of hlacs, it is
keen but not heavy; unlike lilac 1t
scarce can cause flood Of memories.
It will be noticed that none of the
poets quoted claimed that this flower
had an odor of memory, one Of those
| intangible fragrances which seems to
stir old wounds and old triumphs in the
human heart.
What is this quality?
Maybe 1t is no quality at all, but
merely chance, in the individual case.
Guy de Maupassant is forever in his
novels causing one Of his heroines to
watt certain perfumes, which no doubt
were the fashionable odors of the Paris
of 1880.
The eglantine is sort Of wild rose,
then, with its few petals smaller and
whittier than most and with its odor
somewhat lemonlike in quality, sug-
gesting the "simples" of grandmother's
garden, which smelled sweetest when
crushed beneath the feet.
II is an old-fashioned garden Gus
tom to grow these things in paths. The
English were particularly fond of plants
which gave of sweet smells when
walked on.
We of America have not time for such
customs; we are fond of thinking, prid-
ing ourselves upon our rushing But
perhaps we would have time If we
chanced to know about such curiosi-
ties.
1t will be noted that the common
name Of this plant is sometimes spelled
| with an "a" and sometimes with an
"e," thus, "sweetbriar," and sweet
brier."
The former, we believe, is the Amer
ican, and the latter the English. There
are several varieties of these small
roses, but they are difficult to secure.
Old garden books show somewhat
similar roses called Austrian briars and
Scotch briars. Rose history has been
in the making, however, in the last
half century. Rosarians have left the
| old-time things standing at the cross
roads, planted and honored only in a
comparatively few gardens.
One OF the losses of modern rose
craving lies in the lack of fragrance
or in less pleasant type of odor.
Too many of our roses have cloying
perfumes Of a rather sickening char
acter.
One has but to smell the eglantine to
discover the difference.