Hæmony

Milton, in his Comus, says hæmony is of “sovereign use ʹgainst all enchantments, mildew, blast, or damp.” Coleridge says the word is hœma-oinos (blood-wine), and refers to the blood of Jesus Christ, which destroys all evil. The leaf, says Milton, “had prickles on it,” but “it bore a bright golden flower.” The prickles are the crown of thorns, the flower the fruits of salvation.

This interpretation is so in accordance with the spirit of Milton, that it is far preferable to the suggestions that the plant agʹrimony or alyssum was intended, for why should Milton have changed the name? (Greek, haima, blood.) (See Comus, 648–668.)

Dioscorʹides-ascribes similar powers to the herb alyssum, which, as he says, “keepeth man and beast from enchantments and witching.”

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.