Dantê, Hell, xxxi. (1300).
And fell in speche of Telephus, the king,
And of Achilles for his queinte spere,
For he coude with it both hele and dere (i.e., wound).
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (“The Squire’s Tale”).
Whose smile and frown, like to Achillês’ spear,
Is able with the change to kill and cure.
Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act v. sc. 1 (1591).
⁂ The plant milfoil or yarrow, called by the old herbalists, Achilles, is still used in medicine as a tonic. The leaves were at one time much used for healing wounds, and are still employed for this purpose in Scotland, Germany, France, and other countries.
Spearman (Rosanna). Housemaid in the employ of Lady Verinder, and a reformed thief. She is infatuated with Franklin Blake, who is quite ignorant of her passion. Learning, accidentally, that he has, as a sleep-walker, stolen the diamond, she tries to use the knowledge to establish a hold upon him. Failing in this, she drowns herself in a quicksand, leaving behind her a confession of her hopeless love and the means she had used to avert suspicion from him.--Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone.