Wreath

“ No unseemly ambitions, no fantastic desires, had ever drawn just censure upon Upper Farm, and wreaths and crosses decked with tasteful streamers bore witness to this fact. There was actually an exquisite white wreath from Miss Le Pettit of Ignores, laid proudly upon the humbler greener offerings of farmers and fisher folk, overpowering with its elegance even an artificial wreath under glass which came from the Bugletown corn-chandler, who was Mr. Lear's chief customer.
Loveday, watching, knew suddenly that, when her time came, she would be an alien in death, as she was in life ”

“ The painting of the wreath which surrounds the shield is usually very beautiful, and the two flying angels or amorini are models of grace. This motive of the wreath held by two flying figures was largely used by the Florentine sculptors of the fifteenth century, such as Ghiberti and Luca della Robbia; it was suggested by the similar design, of very inferior execution, which occurs on so many ancient Roman sarcophagi. ”

“ The wreath of the great (life) was put on his head, and the Tannās and women embrace each other in the shadow of his wreath. In the shadow of his wreath they embrace one another, they place their pure right hand on him and bless him with the great blessing with which Jāwar-Zīwā was blessed in the place of light. ”

“ A very general misconception—which will be found stated in practically every text-book of armory—is that when a crest issues from a coronet the wreath must be omitted. There is not and never has been any such rule. The rule is rather to the contrary. Instances where both occur are certainly now uncommon, and the presence of a wreath is not in present-day practice considered to be essential if a coronet occurs, but the use or absence of a wreath when the crest issues from a coronet really depends entirely upon the original grant. ”

“ A wreath’s always so becomin’! We used to wear ’em May Day, when I was a girl. They was made o’ paper flowers, all colours, so’s you could suit your complexion, and when it didn’t rain I must say we looked reel nice. ’Twas surprisin’, though, how quick a few drops o’ rain would wilt one o’ them paper wreaths right down so’s you could scurcely tell what ’twas meant for.”
“Tell me some more about the girl with the wreath, Miss Becky,” said Lady Macbeth, longing to curl herself up in a 199 corner, but too mindful of her tragic dignity to unbend. ”

“ Rue was supposed to be a powerful defence against witches, and was used in many spells, and Mr Friend describes a “magic wreath” in which it is used by girls for divination. The wreath is made up of Rue, Willow and Crane’s-bill. “Walking backwards to a tree they throw the wreath over their heads, until it catches on the branches and is held fast. Each time they fail to fix the wreath means another year of single blessedness.” In the Tyrol, a bunch of Rue, Broom, Maidenhair, Agrimony and Ground Ivy will enable the wearer to see witches. ”

“ A mass of earth lined with a wall on the shoulder of a bastion, for the protection of a gun.
Fig. 511. Orle or crest-wreath.
Orle. (1) Arch. A fillet or listel placed beneath the ovolo of a capital. (2) In Heraldry, a subordinary formed of a border of a shield which is charged upon another and a larger shield. (3) The wreath or torse which encircled the crest, composed ordinarily of silk of two colours twisted together, and representing the principal metal and tincture in the wearer’s armorial bearings. (Planché.) ”

“ The fittest place for man to die,
Is where he dies for man."
We hung a wreath here, and again our procession moved forward and halted on the left (west) side of the avenue, at a tablet bearing the inspired words:
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
Here we placed another wreath, and moved onward to a tablet on the right (east) side of the avenue, where we read—
"A thousand battle-fields have drunk
The blood of warriors brave,
And countless homes are dark and drear,
Thro' the land they died to save." ”

“ The pencil moved prophetic: together now men read
In the fair book of nature, and find the hope they need.
The wreath woven by the river is by the seaside worn,
And one of fate's best arrows to its due mark is borne. ”

“ The English, are our brothers, Maid.
Fred. Gorlummy, we're more than that. I've known brothers do the dirty on each other. Us and the French, we're—why, we're pals. So that's all right, lady. Just let me put that wreath back where you got it from. I'm sure you'll 'urt someone's feelings if you trample on it. [He tries to take wreath, she prevents him.]
Jeanne. When you have shown me why I should accept an English wreath, perhaps I will. So far I've yet to learn why a soldier of France is friendly with an Englishman. ”

“ Obverse: Britannia seated on a globe, holding in her right hand a laurel wreath, and in her left, which rests upon a Union shield resting against the globe, a palm leaf; at her feet to her right, a lion. Reverse: A wreath of laurel, encircling the name of the battle or operations for which the medal was granted. ”

“ These little hearts are now all hidden under the snow, and cannot tinkle their sad songs of sorrow and longing.
People who work in the towns have brought back with them to their dead wreaths with flowers of beads and leaves of painted tin; and these wreaths are so highly treasured that they are kept in small glass cases on the graves. But now all this is hidden and buried under the snow, and the grave that possesses such an ornament is in no way more remarkable than any of the other graves. ”

“ But if we are going to cover all these cross-bars with birch boughs and wreaths, we must hitch up old Maja and drive into the woods soon."
"Indeed, you must," said Mrs. Lund, as [58] she hurried across the lawn with a huge wreath of daisies over her arm and a basket of nodding bluebells. "You will find us under that clump of beeches, making our wreaths, when you return. Oh! there is plenty for every one to do before the pole is trimmed for to-night."
"Mother, you do make wreaths so fast," said Sigrid. ”

“ She holds a wreath in her raised right hand, and her left hand is represented as holding the lines for guiding the horses. The group is full of expression and life, and will add greatly to the beauty of the building to be surmounted by it. ”

“ For every time that the wreath is thrown without sticking to the branches of the tree the girl will have a year to wait before she weds. This mode of divination is practised in Voigtland,151 East Prussia,152 Silesia,153 Belgium,154 and Wales,155 and the same thing is done in Masuren, although we are not told that there the wreaths must be composed of nine sorts of flowers.156 However, in Masuren chaplets of nine kinds of herbs are gathered on St. John's Eve and put to a more prosaic use than that of presaging the course of true love. ”

“ They employed floral wreaths at their nuptials. Nearly all the plants composing these wreaths had a symbolical meaning, and they were varied according to the seasons and the circumstances of the wearer. The Hawthorn adorned Grecian brides; but the bridal wreath of the Romans was usually composed of Verbena, plucked by the bride herself. Holly wreaths were sent as tokens of good wishes. Chaplets of Parsley and Rue were worn to keep off evil spirits.
But the employment of garlands has by no means been confined to the ancients. ”

“ He or she who does so will be free from ague throughout the year, and the flax will grow as high as the young folks leap. A girl who sees nine bonfires on Midsummer Eve will marry before the year is out. The singed wreaths are carried home and carefully preserved throughout the year. During thunderstorms a bit of the wreath is burned on the hearth with a prayer; some of it is given to kine that are sick or calving, and some of it serves to fumigate house and cattle-stall, that man and beast may keep hale and well. ”

“ While the myrtle, now idly entwined with his crown,
Like the wreath of Harmodius, should cover his sword. ”

“ The immense quantities of florists’ wreaths sent nowadays have brought into disrepute one of the most charming ideas possible, and the money once devoted to black plumes and undertaker’s millinery of all kinds, to extravagant mourning and absurd woe, is now squandered equally extravagantly and absurdly on wreaths, which cost from 15s. ”

“ And fragrant still the coronal,
Though dead the blush and sear the green.
They are perhaps an offering
To scatter on my funeral stone;
For flowers are not made for the Spring,
Which only blight and blast has known. ”

“ It is rare indeed to find a shield surmounted by helmet and mantling when the former is not required to support a crest. At the same time we find, among the official records of the period, that the documents of chief importance were the Visitation Books. In these, probably from motives of economy or to save needless draughtsmanship, the trouble of depicting the helmet and mantling was dispensed with, and the crest is almost universally found depicted on the wreath, which is made to rest upon the shield, the helmet being omitted. ”

“ All day she [Pg 331] sits making raffia wreaths to take back—making wreaths—making wreaths!"
"Say, ain't that tough!"
"It's a godsend she's got the eyes to do it. It's wonderful the way she reads—in English, too. There ain't a daily she misses. Without them and the wreaths—I dunno—I just dunno. Is—is it any wonder, Milt, I—I can't see the joke?" ”

“ We have already learned from Lucian that these wreaths were made of flowers, if the death occurred during the right season, and we have other good authority for believing that the parsley plant was often employed as a substitute at a time unfavorable [24] for flowers [53] . As in modern burials, these wreaths were sent by the relatives and friends of the deceased [54] , and were especially numerous at the funerals of young people. This latter fact is established by the complaint of a woman of ill-repute, who exclaims: “I have a mourner, not a lover ”

“ When two or more crests are depicted together, and when, as is often the case in England, the wreaths are depicted in space, and without the intervening helmets, the crests always all face to the dexter side, and the stereotyped character of English crests perhaps more than any other reason, has led of late to the depicting of English helmets all placed to face in the same direction to the dexter side. ”

“ The church was old and grey, with ivy clinging to the walls, and round the porch. Shunning the tombs, it crept about the mounds, beneath which slept poor humble men: twining for them the first wreaths they had ever won, but wreaths less liable to wither and far more lasting in their kind, than some which were graven deep in stone and marble, and told in pompous terms of virtues meekly hidden for many a year, and only revealed at last to executors and mourning legatees. ”

“ If it were not for that, we should soon look like bunches of uprooted seaweed dried in the sun.'
'It is a great pity,' said Proserpina. 'But do you wait for me here, and I will run and gather my apron full of flowers, and be back again before the surf wave has broken ten times over you. I long to make you some wreaths that shall be as lovely as this necklace of many-coloured shells.'
'We will wait, then,' answered the sea nymphs. 'But while you are gone, we may as well lie down on a bank of soft sponge, under the water. The air to-day is a little too dry for our comfort. ”

“ And sing an act so noble and so new,
Posterity will scarce believe ’tis true.
Pain’d with his wound, and useless for the fight,
The father sought to save himself by flight:
Encumber’d, slow he dragg’d the spear along,
Which pierc’d his thigh, and in his buckler hung.
The pious youth, resolv’d on death, below
The lifted sword springs forth to face the foe;
Protects his parent, and prevents the blow.
Shouts of applause ran ringing thro’ the field,
To see the son the vanquish’d father shield. ”

“ Thus, on the banks of Hebrus' freezing flood,
The God of Battles, in his angry mood,
Clashing his sword against his brazen shield,
Let loose the reins, and scours along the field:
Before the wind his fiery coursers fly;
Groans the sad earth, resounds the rattling sky.
Wrath, Terror, Treason, Tumult, and Despair
(Dire faces, and deform'd) surround the car;
Friends of the god, and followers of the war.
With fury not unlike, nor less disdain,
Exulting Turnus flies along the plain:
His smoking horses, at their utmost speed,
He lashes on, and urges o'er the dead. ”

“ When the day arrived for the battle to begin, the four-footed beasts all came running along to the field, shaking the earth with their roaring and bellowing. The wren king also came with his army, whirring and buzzing and humming enough to terrify any one out of his senses. Then the wren king sent the hornet forward to settle upon the fox’s tail and sting it with all his power. ”

“ The play is the thing—and Imagination is life and salvation.
Bravely he leapt into the waves, and turned to his daunted followers as an arrow smote his shield.
"Buck up, you fellows," quoth he, "a little wetting won't hurt you—nor spoil your bronze clothes. Come on, you're not salt nor yet sugar. A bath will do some of you good. . . ."
Still they hung back.
"Behold!" he continued, "I take the Standard of the Tenth Legion among the enemy!"
He did, and another arrow took him well in the centre of the cuirass ere the enemy, leaping from the chariot, rushed upon him with spear and axe. ”

“ Saying thus, she hurled a torch full at the youth, and
lodged in his breast the pine-wood with its lurid smoke and 25
glare. The bonds of sleep are broken by the giant terror,
and a burst of sweat all over bathes the whole man, bone
and limb. “My sword!” he screams in frenzy; for his
sword he searches pillow and palace: the fever of the steel,
the guilty madness of bloodshed rage within him, and angry 30
pride tops all: even as when loud-crackling a fire of sticks
is heaped round the sides of a waving caldron, and the
heat makes the water start ”