Marjorum

‘The striped carnation, and the guarded rose, ‘The vulgar wall-flower, and smart gilly-flower, ‘The polyanthus mean—the dapper daisy, ‘Sweet William, and sweet marjorum—and all ‘The tribe of single and of double pinks!

The marjorum stood in ruddy and fragrant masses; harebells and campanulas of several kinds, that are cultivated in our gardens, with bells large and clear; crimson pinks; the Michaelmas daisy; a plant with a thin, radiated yellow flower, of the character of an aster; a centaurea of a light purple, handsomer than any English one; a thistle in the dryest places, resembling an eryngo, with a thick, bushy top; mulleins, yellow and white; the wild mignonnette, and the white convolvulus; and clematis festooning the bushes, recalled the flowery fields and lanes of England, and yet told us that we were not there.

Amaracus, a page of Cynarus, King of Cyprus, was so afflicted at having accidentally broken a vase which he was entrusted, and thus spilling a very precious ointment which it contained, that he died of grief, and the pitying gods changed him into the fragrant marjorum.

“The primrose, the spring’s own spouse; Bright day’s eyes, and the lips of cows; The garden star, the queen of May, The rose to crown the holiday— Rain roses still: Bring corn, flax, tulips, and Adonis’ flower, Flower-gentle, and the fair-haired hyacinth, Bring gladdest myrtle, With spikenard weaved, and marjorum between; And starred with yellow-golds and meadows’ green— The breath thereof Panchaia may envy, The colors China, and the light the sky.