It has
always been sacred to
deserted
or unhappy lovers.
Keats
_The Winter's Tale_, IV. iv. 73, &c., where Perdita
gives to each guest suitable flowers. Cf. also Ophelia's flowers,
_Hamlet_, IV. v. 175, etc.
l. 217. _osier'd gold._ The gold was woven into baskets, as though it
were osiers.
l. 224. _willow_, the weeping willow, so-called because its branches
with their long leaves droop to the ground, like dropping tears.
It has
always been sacred to
deserted
or unhappy lovers.
Cf. _Othello_, IV.
iii. 24 seq.
_adder's tongue._ For was she not a serpent?
l. 226. _thyrsus._ A rod wreathed with ivy and crowned with a fir-cone,
used by Bacchus and his followers.
