Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme: what do they mean?
Lewis Stiller
Some time ago I posted asking what the lyrics to Scarborough Fair from
The Graduate soundtrack meant; other than that it is based on some old
ballads, which I already knew, I did not actually get much in the way
of definitive answers (except for one reference to a book we don't
have.)
I did however, happen to notice that in Act 4 Scene 5 of Hamlet
Ophelia says she is strewing around a bunch of herbs, including
rosemary; the notes explained that rosemary is the symbol of
remembrance, and one reference expanded that it was the symbol for
constancy. The other herbs she mentioned have that kind of meaning,
unfortunately, parsley, sage and thyme are not in the list. Anyone
know what parsley, sage and thyme mean and how these meanings were
determined anyway? Please email to me and PLEASE ONLY REPLY IF YOU
KNOW ONE WAY OR THE OTHER; I assure you I can speculate on the meaning
of a ballad too.
--
Lewis Stiller
Dept. of Computer Science, The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21218-2194
email: sti...@cs.jhu.edu
Millie Niss
professor claims that parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme were supposed
to be abortifacients. I don't know if I believe that, though, since
they are used in cooking...
Millie
Lewis Stiller
Nancy Cruz
There are many herbs used in cooking that can cause miscarriage.
Nancy
--
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Nancy Cruz - a.k.a. "Tensha, the Icewoman" | New York University |
| cr...@lab.ultra.nyu.edu |Ultracomputer Research lab|
+--------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Joseph J. Charles
knight named Sir Parsley who is attempting to rescue a fair maiden from
a terrible dragon, hence the line "Parsley saves Rosemary in time." ;-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Charles, cha...@tree.kodak.com | "I wanna eat an' go home!"--A kid
Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, New York | I walked by at Disneyworld in '83
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Richard A. Schumacher
Ralph Marrone
I read somewhere that parsley is a symbol for Spring. Unfortunately, I
don't remember where I read this.
Regards,
Ralph Marrone
Jeffrey A. Del Col
All the herbs listed have carminative properties, so if love disgusts you,
PSR&T might do the trick.
J. Del Col
--
Jeff Del Col * DECONSTRUCTIONIST--an academic who denies the existence
A-B College * of all authors except Derrida.
Philippi, WV *
* --THE NEW DEVIL'S DICTIONARY--
Lewis Stiller
Lewis Stiller <sti...@lost-boy.cs.jhu.edu> wrote:
>In article <29icf1$j...@sol.ctr.columbia.edu>,
>Millie Niss <mil...@shire.math.columbia.edu> wrote:
>>I'm taking a course in the history of women in Europe, and the
>>professor claims that parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme were supposed
>>to be abortifacients. I don't know if I believe that, though, since
>>they are used in cooking...
>>
>>Millie
>>
>
>
>Interesting: could you post a reference?
Also, I very cursorily glanced through parts of the new CRC Handbook
of Medicinal Herbs, Edith Wheelwright's book on the history of
medicinal herbs and one other book and noticed no support for this.
One of them did say rosemary was a symbol of love though.
Jean-Yves Simon
>In article <29icf1$j...@sol.ctr.columbia.edu>,
>Millie Niss <mil...@shire.math.columbia.edu> wrote:
>>I'm taking a course in the history of women in Europe, and the
>>professor claims that parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme were supposed
>>to be abortifacients. I don't know if I believe that, though, since
>>they are used in cooking...
>>
>>Millie
>>
>
>
>Interesting: could you post a reference?
>--
In a Claude Chabrol's movie , the title escapes me right now, that was telling the
story of an "angel maker" during the WW II, I remember that one way to have an
abortion was for a woman to take a bath of mustard.
---
--
Jean-Yves SIMON si...@wotangate.sc.ti.com
Dani Zweig
>All the herbs listed have carminative properties...
I'm away from my dictionary just now. Do you mean that they make
you sing, or simply that they scan?
Jeffrey A. Del Col
How can I put this in a delicate yet forceful manner? Let's just say
that carminatives make it less likely that you will toot your own horn--
they prevent flatulence.
BTW, I understand there's going to be a reunion of Diamond and Carbuncle--
ought to be a gem of an act.
Thomas S Listmann
In article <1993Oct15....@VFL.Paramax.COM> ra...@VFL.Paramax.COM (Ralph Marrone) writes:
>
>I read somewhere that parsley is a symbol for Spring. Unfortunately, I
>don't remember where I read this.
Hmmmm...you may be on to something here. I just consulted The Herbalist by
Joseph Meyer (1934), in which parsley is described as flowering in spring and
sage in summer. Could the quartet stand for spring, summer, fall and winter,
reinforcing the ballad's theme of lost love and mutability? Of course,
rosemary and thyme are also summer-flowering. All 4 herbs are native to
Europe, by the way. Of thyme the book says: "The warm infusion is useful in
flatulence, colic and to promote persperation."
Tom
Rich Sutton
>>knight named Sir Parsley who is attempting to rescue a fair maiden from
>>a terrible dragon, hence the line "Parsley saves Rosemary in time." ;-)
>Close! It's "Parsifal saves Rosemary in time".
No, it's "Presley shaves toes buried in rime."
(NEXT PLEASE!)
Igor Belchinskiy
: br...@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey A. Del Col):
: >All the herbs listed have carminative properties...
: I'm away from my dictionary just now. Do you mean that they make
: you sing, or simply that they scan?
Wasn't it young Nabokov in _Speak, Memory_, in love with carminative
and all its romantic carmine obertones, Carmen passions and poetic power
before he bothered with the dictionary?
--
Igor Belchinskiy bil.w...@xerox.com Opinions are mine and strong.
Janet M. Lafler
>I read somewhere that parsley is a symbol for Spring. Unfortunately, I
>don't remember where I read this.
Perhaps in a haggadah. Parsley takes its place on the seder plate and in
the Passover service, symbolizing the green of spring. It doesn't have to
be parsley, though; practically anything green and leafy will do.
/Janet
--
Send mail to: ja...@netcom.com
"The semi-colons in _Mrs. Dalloway_ made me insane." --R. Lafler
Matthew P Wiener
>>I read somewhere that parsley is a symbol for Spring. Unfortunately, I
>>don't remember where I read this.
>Perhaps in a haggadah.
Perhaps. I believe it would have been in a modern retrosilly hagaddah,
of the gullible making it up as they go along folk etymology sort.
> Parsley takes its place on the seder plate and in
>the Passover service, symbolizing the green of spring. It doesn't have to
>be parsley, though; practically anything green and leafy will do.
The Talmud only refers to yerakos (vegetables). One normally starts a
holiday/shabbos meal with a kiddush and then by the washing of hands and
the breaking of bread, but this night, one says kiddush and then washes
and dips a vegetable. Why? So that the children will be curious and
ask questions. Any non-bitter vegetable is usable here.
Carpas meaning either celery or parsley is first mentioned by various
rishonim. The reason carpas is singled out is that when the word is
written backwards, it spells out "60 [myriad] backbreaking", an allusion
to the exodus and the slavery.
--
-Matthew P Wiener (wee...@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu)