Citations:haemony

English citations of haemony and Hæmony

• 1637, John Milton, A Mask presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634, lines 638-641:

  He called it Hæmony, and gave it me,
  And bad me keep it as of sovran use
  ’Gainst all inchantments, mildew, blast, or damp,
  Or ghastly furies apparition.

• 1809, Henry John Todd, The Poetical Works of John Milton, page 342:

  It is not agreed whether Milton’s Hæmony is a real or poetical plant. […] In The Faerie Queene, the Palmer has a vertuous staffe, which, like Milton’s Moly and Hæmony, defeats all monstrous apparitions and diabolical illusions.

• 1850 July 27, K. P. D. E., “Replies to minor queries”, in Notes & Queries‎^[1]:

  I think MR. BASHAM, who asks for a reference to the plant "hæmony", referred to by Milton in his Comus, will find the information which he seeks in the following extract from Henry Lyte's translation of Rembert Dodoen's Herbal, at page 107, of the edition of 1578. The plant is certainly not called by the name of "hæmony," nor is it described as having prickles on its leaves; but they are plentifully shown in the engraving which accompanies the description.

• 1895, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Letters Volume 1, page 212:

  All the puzzle is to find out what plant Hæmony is; which they discover to be the English spleenwort, and decked out as a mere play and license of poetic fancy with all the strange properties suited to the purpose of the drama.

• 1970, Sacvan Bercovitch, “Milton's "Haemony": Knowledge and Belief”, in Huntington Library Quarterly, page 351:

  In a recent study of Thyris' magical herb in Comus, John M. Steadman concludes that “haemony means knowledge” from Greek haimon “skillful.” […] It seems unlikely, however, that the poet himself would not have recognized certain additional meanings (related to Haemonia or Thessaly, “blood” or “blood red”)