She seemed to sympathize with his repentance: for the Almond-tree, into which she had been transformed, instantly put forth its flowers, and proved by this last effort, that true love, "strong as death," is incapable of change.

WEEPING WILLOW.

MOURNING.

THE Weeping Willow is a native of the East, where it was not only planted near the water, but also near the graves of the dead, over which its branches drooped as in token of mourning and affliction, producing an appropriate and picturesque effect. It is called by Linneus the Willow of Babylon (Salix Babylonica,) in allusion to that affecting passage in the 137th Psalm, where the captive children of Israel are represented as hanging their harps upon the Willows, and sitting down beside the waters of Babylon to weep their separation from their beloved country.

Silent their harps-each cord unstrung,
On pendant Willow-branches hung.

BOOKER.

On the Willow thy harp is suspended-
O Salem! its sound should be free:
And the hour when thy glories were ended
But left me that token of thee;

And ne'er shall its soft notes be blended

With the voice of the spoiler by me.

BYRON.

Forsaken lovers are represented by our earlier poets as wearing wreaths of Willow.

In love, the sad, forsaken wight
The Willow-garland weareth.

DRAYTON.

I offered him my company to a Willow-tree, to make him a garland, as being forsaken.

In such a night,

SHAKSPEARE.

Stood Dido, with a Willow in her hand,

Upon the wild sea-banks, and waved her love

To come again to Carthage.

Id.

I'll wear the Willow-garland for his sake.

Id.

The Arabs have a particular tradition relative to the origin of the Weeping Willow. This tradition is founded on the story of Bathsheba, and corresponds with the account given in the Old Testament of the manner in which she became the wife of David and the mother of Solomon. It then proceeds thus: One morning, the king was seated as usual at his harp, composing psalms, when he perceived to his astonishment two strangers seated opposite to him on the divan. As strict orders were issued that no person what

ever should be admitted during the first four hours of the day, David wondered greatly how the strangers had gained access to his closet. They rose, and begged pardon for having entered unannounced, because they had an urgent complaint to lay before him. David quitted the harp, and placed himself on his judgment seat. "This man," began one of them, "has ninety-nine sheep, which plentifully supply all his wants; while I, poor wretch, had but one that was my joy and comfort, and that one he has forcibly taken from me." At the mention of the ninety-nine sheep, David could not help thinking of the flock of his barem. He recognised in the strangers two angels of the Lord, and was sensible of the heniousness of his offence. Forthwith he threw himself upon the floor, and shed tears of bitter repentance. There he lay for forty days and forty nights upon his face, weeping and trembling before the judgment of the Lord. As many tears of repentance as the whole human race have shed and will shed on account of their sins, from the time of David till the judgment-day, so many did David weep in those forty days, all the while moaning forth psalms of penitence. The tears from his eyes

formed two streams, which ran from the closet into the ante-room, and thence into the garden. Where they sank into the ground, there sprang up two trees, the Weeping Willow, and the Frankincense Tree. The first weeps and mourns, and the second is incessantly shedding big tears, in memory of the sincere repentance of David.

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