Strawberry. Shakespeare’s mention of the strawberry in connection with the nettle, in “Henry V.” (i. 1),
“The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best
Neighbour’d by fruit of baser quality,”
deserves, says Mr. Ellacombe, a passing note. “It was the common opinion in his day that plants were affected by the neighborhood of other plants to such an extent that they imbibed each others virtues and faults. Thus sweet flowers were planted near fruit-trees with the idea of improving the flavor of the fruit, and evil-smelling trees, like the elder, were carefully cleared away from fruit-trees, lest they should be tainted. But the strawberry was supposed to be an exception to the rule, and was said to thrive in the midst of ‘evil communications, without being corrupted.’”
Thorns. The popular tradition, which represents the marks on the moon[557] to be that of a man carrying a thorn-bush on his head, is alluded to in “Midsummer-Night’s Dream” (v. 1), in the Prologue:
“This man, with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn,
Presenteth Moonshine.”
Little else is mentioned by Shakespeare with regard to thorns, save that they are generally used by him as the emblems of desolation and trouble.
Violets. An old superstition is alluded to by Shakespeare when he makes Laertes wish that violets may spring from the grave of Ophelia (“Hamlet,” v. 1):
“Lay her i’ the earth:
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring!”
an idea which occurs in Persius’s “Satires” (i. 39):
“E tumulo fortunataque favilla
Nascentur violæ.”