Amʹber.

This fossilised vegetable resin is, according to legend, a concretion of birdsʹ tears. The birds were the sisters of Meleāger, who never ceased weeping for the death of their brother.—Ovid: Metamorphoses, viii. line 270, etc.

“Around thee shall glisten the loveliest amber

That ever the sorrowing sea-bird hath wept.”

T. Moore: Fire Worship pers.

Amber, a repository. So called because insects and small leaves are preserved in amber.

“You may be disposed to preserve it in your amber.”—Notes and Queries.—W. Dowe.

“Pretty! in amber, to observe the forms

Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms,

The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,

But wonder now the devil they got there.”

Pope: Ep. to Arbuth not, 169–72.

· ·

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Amʹber.

Linking here:

See Also: