Link to an image of this page [C5v f21v]
Hedera.
Ivy
Haudquaquam arescens hederae est arbuscula, Cisso[1]
Quae puero Bacchum dona dedisse ferunt:
Errabunda, procax, auratis fulva corymbis,
Exterius viridis, caetera pallor habet.
Hinc aptis vates cingunt sua tempora sertis:[2]
Pallescunt studiis, laus diuturna viret.
There is a bushy plant which never withers, the ivy which Bacchus, they say, gave as a gift to the boy Cissos. It goes where it will, uncontrollable; tawny where the golden berry-clusters hang; green on the outside but pale everywhere else. Poets use it to wreathe their brows with garlands that fit them well - poets are pale with study, but their praise remains green for ever.
1. Κισσός is the Greek word for ‘ivy’. For the story of Cissos, beloved of Bacchus, and his transformation into the ivy, see Nonnus, Dionysiaca, 12.188ff.
2. vates cingunt sua tempora, ‘Poets use it to wreathe their brows’. See Pliny, Natural History, 16.62.147: poets use the species with yellow berries for garlands.
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- plants and herbs: ivy (+ plants used symbolically) [25G4(IVY)(+1)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- fence, wall, paling [41A54] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trellis [41A625] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- colours, pigments, and paints (with NAME) [22C4(GOLD)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- colours, pigments, and paints (with NAME) [22C4(GREEN)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- plants and herbs: ivy (+ bearing fruit) [25G4(IVY)(+34)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Fame ~ writer, 'poeta laureata' [48C921] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Industriousness, Assiduity; 'Assiduità', 'Industria', 'Zelo' (Ripa) [54A11] Search | Browse Iconclass
- attributes of Bacchus (with NAME) [92L18(IVY)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- single named nymphs (with NAME) [92L32(CISSOS)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Link to an image of this page [C6r f22r]Buxus.
The box-tree
Perpetuo viridis, crispoque cacumine buxus,
Unde est disparibus fistula facta modis,[1]
Deliciis apta est teneris, & amantibus arbor.
Pallor inest illi, pallet & omnis amans.
[2]
The box-tree is evergreen, with crinkly shoots. From it was made the pipe with its variously pitched notes. It is a tree appropriate to tender delights and to lovers. Box-wood is pale and so is every lover.
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- groups of plants (herbs) [25G13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees (+ bare plant) [25G3(+351)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- shrubs: box (+ plants used symbolically) [25G31(BOX)(+1)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- boulder, stone [25H1124] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (high) hill [25H113] Search | Browse Iconclass
- farm or solitary house in landscape [25I3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- clouds [26A] Search | Browse Iconclass
- rural housing, e.g. country-house, villa, cottage [41A16] Search | Browse Iconclass
- topiary work (shrubs and trees trimmed and trained into ornamental shape); bonsai, espalliered, etc. [41A672] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- lovers; courting, flirting [33C2] Search | Browse Iconclass
- panpipes [48C7353] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Pleasure, Enjoyment, Joy; 'Allegrezza', 'Allegrezza da le medaglie', 'Allegrezza, letitia e giubilo', 'Diletto', 'Piacere', 'Piacere honesto' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [56B1(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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