Under the pillow of thy dear,
Yet let it be unknown to her;
And if it a secret be
She soon will show her love for thee.”
Similar apple sorceries were known to the Norsemen. Because the apple was so nearly connected with love and luxury—“Geschlechtsliebe und Zeugungslust”—those who were initiated in the mysteries and vowed to chastity were forbidden to eat it. And for the same reason apples, hares, and Cupids, or “Amorets,” were often depicted together. In Genesis, as in the Canticles of Solomon, apples, or at least the fruit from which the modern apple inherited its traditions are a symbol of sexual love. In Florence women wishing for children go to a priest and get from him a blessed apple, over which they pronounce an incantation to Santa Anna—la San’ Na—who was the Lucina of the Latins.
[1] Though not connected with this work, I cannot help observing that this extraordinary simile probably originated in a very common ornament used as a figure-head, or in decorations, on Mississippi steamboats, as well as ships. This is the sea-horse (hippocampus), which may be often seen of large size, carved and gilt. Its fish tail might be easily confused with that of an alligator. Prætorius (1666) enumerates, among other monsters, the horse-crocodile. [↑]
[2] Schott, “Wallachische Mährchen,” p. 297. Stuttgart, 1845. [↑]