The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare Part 8

But, saying thus, instead of oil and Balm, Thou lay'st in every gash that love hath given me The knife that made it.

_Troilus and Cressida_, act i, sc. 1 (61).

(8) _1st Senator._

We sent to thee, to give thy rages Balm.

_Timon of Athens_, act v, sc. 4 (16).

(9) _France._

Balm of your age, Most best, most dearest.

_King Lear_, act i, sc. 1 (218).

(10) _K. Henry._

Let all the tears that should bedew my hea.r.s.e Be drops of Balm to sanctify thy head.

_2nd Henry IV_, act iv, sc. 5 (114).

(11) _Mowbray._

I am disgraced, impeach'd, and baffled here: Pierced to the soul with slander's venom'd spear; The which no Balm can cure, but his heart-blood Which breathed this poison.

_Richard II_, act i, sc. 1 (170).

(12) _Dromio of Syracuse._

Our fraughtage, Sir, I have conveyed aboard, and I have bought The oil, the Balsamum, and aqua vitae.

_Comedy of Errors_, act iv, sc. 1 (187).

(13) _Alcibiades._

Is this the Balsam that the usuring Senate Pours into captains' wounds?

_Timon of Athens_, act iii, sc. 5 (110).

(14) _Macbeth._

Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great Nature's second course, Chief nourisher in life's feast.

_Macbeth_, act ii, sc. 2 (37).

(15) _Quickly._

The several chairs of order look you scour With juice of Balm and every precious flower.

_Merry Wives_, act v, sc. 5 (65).

(16) _Cleopatra._

As sweet as Balm, as soft as air, as gentle.

_Antony and Cleopatra_, act v, sc. 2 (314).

(17)

And trembling in her pa.s.sion, calls it Balm, Earth's sovereign salve to do a G.o.ddess good.

_Venus and Adonis_ (27).

(18)

And drop sweet Balm in Priam's painted wound.

_Lucrece_ (1466).

(19)

With the drops of this most balmy time My love looks fresh.

_Sonnet_ cvii.

In all these pa.s.sages, except the two last, the reference is to the Balm or Balsam which was imported from the East, from very early times, and was highly valued for its curative properties. The origin of Balsam was for a long time a secret, but it is now known to have been the produce of several gum-bearing trees, especially the Pistacia lentiscus and the Balsamodendron Gileadense; and now, as then, the name is not strictly confined to the produce of any one plant. But in Nos. 15 and 16 the reference is no doubt to the Sweet Balm of the English gardens (_Melissa officinalis_), a plant highly prized by our ancestors for its medicinal qualities (now known to be of little value), and still valued for its pleasant scent and its high value as a bee plant, which is shown by its old Greek and Latin names, Melissa, Mellissophyllum, and Apiastrum. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d Balm (_Melittis melissophyllum_) is a handsome native plant, found sparingly in Devons.h.i.+re, Hamps.h.i.+re, and a few other places, and is well worth growing wherever it can be induced to grow; but it is a very capricious plant, and is apparently not fond of garden cultivation.

"Tres jolie plante, mais d'une culture difficile" (Vilmorin). It probably would thrive best in the shade, as it is found in copses.

BARLEY.

(1) _Iris._

Ceres, most bounteous lady, thy rich leas Of Wheat, Rye, Barley, Vetches, Oats, and Pease.