Daffodil (The)

or “Lent Lily,” was once white; but Persephŏnē, daughter of Demetēr (Cerēs), delighted to wander about the flowery meadows of Sicily. One spring-tide she tripped over the meadows, wreathed her head with wild lilies, and, throwing herself on the grass, fell asleep. The god of the Infernal Regions, called by the Romans Pluto, fell in love with the beautiful maid, and carried her off for his bride. His touch turned the white flowers to a golden yellow, and some of them fell in Acheron, where they grew luxuriantly; and ever since the flower has been planted on graves. Theophilus and Pliny tell us that the ghosts delight in the flower, called by them the Asphodel. It was once called the Affodil. (French, asphodèle; Latin, asphodilus; Greek, asphodilos.)

1

“Flour of daffodil is a cure for madness.”—Med. MS. Lincoln Cathedral, f. 282.