XXXI.
“‘They wailed; the long torn ringlets of their hair
The women among all the nations of antiquity were accustomed
to express violent grief by tearing their hair. This must have been
a great and affecting sacrifice to the object bemoaned, as they considered
it a part of themselves, and absolutely essential to their
beauty. Fine hair has been a subject of commendation among all
people, and particularly the ancients. Cyrus, when he went to visit
his uncle Astyages, found him with his eyelashes colored, and decorated
with false locks. The first Cæsar obtained permission to wear
the laurel wreath in order to conceal the bareness of his temples.
The quantity and beauty of the hair of Absalom are commemorated
in Holy Writ. The modern Oriental ladies also set the greatest
value on their hair, which they braid and perfume. Thus the poet
Hafiz, whom Sir William Jones styles the Anacreon of Persia:—
“These locks, each curl of which is worth a hundred musk-bags
of China, would be sweet indeed if their scent proceeded from
sweetness of temper.”
And again: “When the breeze shall waft the fragrance of thy
locks over the tomb of Hafiz, a thousand flowers shall spring from
out the earth that hides his corse.”
Achilles clipped his yellow locks, and then threw them as a sacrifice
upon the funeral pyre of Patroclus. The women of the aborigines
of America cut off locks of their long black hair, and strew
them upon the graves of their husbands.
Bestrewed the ambient gale; deep rolled the stream,
And swallowed the fair child: no succor there!
They, women,—whither look?—who to redeem
“‘What the fierce waves were preying on? When, lo!
Approached a stranger boy. Aside he flung,
Quick as a thought, his quiver and his bow;
And, parted by his limbs, the sparkling billows sung.
