Lilies

If in your dream, you see the lily wither, then your most ardent expectations will be nullified. It portends failure, the death of a lover, a partner, a child &c.

Zadkiel's Dream Book, reprinted in A Handbook of Dreams and Fortune-Telling

In popular symbolism the lily represents... 'pallid death': legends (of Corvey, Hildesheim, and Wroclaw) tell of a lily appearing mysteriously to announce the death of a friar. A traditional song also refers to 'three lilies' planted on a grave.

Wordsworth Dictionary of Symbolism

The virgins' flower and also the symbol of resurrection and purity.

Cemetery Plants

"Lily of the valley (Convalaria Majalis, fam. Liliaceae). Grows wild in N. England. Commonly cultivated. Flowers in May. Berries red when ripe. Leaves particularly poisonous because three constituents depress the heart, like Foxglove."

What are the constituents that depress the heart?
the scent of lilies in darkgreen silences under trees
milkweed and ragwort and sunshine in hedges
small flowers picked amongst trees when it's raining

A year ago
You planted lilies in the valley of my mind
There were lilies at the bottom of my garden
And ferries at the bottom of my street

Now
I sit here in sunlight with the smell of wild garlic
Trying to taperecord the sound of windflowers and celandines

Wondering
What are the three constituents that depress the heart
Without you here in the country?

Adrian Henri, Country Song

 

heaps of white entrails
nestling amid lilies-of-the-valley

Adrian Henri, Death in the Suburbs

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