THE LOTUS AND THE WATER LILY.
Brandies they bore of that enchanted stum, Laden with llower and fruit, whereof they gave To each, but whoso did receive tlicni, And taste, to him the gushing of the ■wave Par, far away (lid seem to mourn and rave On alien shores. Ho wrote Tennyson of the lotus tree (Zisyplius lotus), familiar in tropical countries, whose fruit, if eaten, produces an irresistible languor. But there is a very different Ictus, ■sister to our water lily, which, in ancient Egypt, broidercd the banks of the Nile, and ravished all with its beauty. Was not that rosy, waxlike blossom the votary and symbol of gentle Mother Isis, the spouse of Osiris? But, to-day, it is seen there no more. The wonderful Victoria rcgia, growing on the mighty Amazon, has flowers more than a foot across. Nevertheless, our own modest water lily was a favourite of the Greeks, who, imagining it the 'roof tree of nymphs and naiads, gavo it the pretty name of Nymphaea.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 5, 7 January 1928, Page 17
Word Count
169THE LOTUS AND THE WATER LILY. Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 5, 7 January 1928, Page 17
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