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Buxus.
The box-tree
EMBLEMA CCVIII.
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.
1. For pipes of boxwood, see e.g. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 4.30.
2. pallet et omnis amans, ‘pale...is every lover’. The lover should affect pallor and emaciation, as these will soften the lady’s heart; see Ovid, Ars Amatoria, 1.729ff.
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Related Emblems
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Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- flute, aulos, tibia [48C7351] Search | Browse Iconclass
- panpipes [48C7353] Search | Browse Iconclass
- shrubs: box (+ plants used symbolically) [25G31(BOX)(+1)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- tools, aids, implements ~ crafts and industries (with NAME) [47D8(WINDLASS)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- lovers; courting, flirting [33C2] 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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