asphodel

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asphodel

asphodel , name for plants of several genera of the family Lilaceae ( lily family). The true asphodels belong to two small and very similar genera ( Asphodelus and Asphodeline ) of the Mediterranean region and India. The showy flower spike of the former is usually white; of the latter, yellow. Both are stemless, hardy herbs. The asphodel (or king's spear) of the ancients, sacred to Persephone and associated with the fields of the dead, was Asphodeline lutea; the asphodel of the early French and English poets was a narcissus. The false asphodel is Tofieldia, represented in North America by T. glutinosa and a few other species. The turkeybeard ( Xerophyllum asphodeloides ) of the Atlantic coastal plains is also called mountain asphodel. Asphodels are classified in the division Magnoliophyta , class Liliopsida, order Liliales, family Liliaceae.

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asphodel

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Â© The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

asphodel an everlasting flower said to grow in the Elysian fields. The name is recorded from late Middle English and comes via Latin from the Greek base of daffodil.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "asphodel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "asphodel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (July 10, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-asphodel.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "asphodel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-asphodel.html

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	Giant Asphodel.(Brief Article)(Poem)(Illustration) Magazine article from: Quadrant; 10/1/2004
	Asphodels.(poem) Magazine article from: Poetry; 10/1/1998
	The good news of poetry.(COMMENTARY) Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 4/28/2009

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	Giant Asphodel.(Brief Article)(Poem)(Illustration) Magazine article from: Quadrant; 10/1/2004; 107 words ; GIANT ASPHODEL for William Carlos Williams I wonder which parts of me that I do not know will die with you...my ego which is blocking the view my mind strains to see. My yard certainly has the biggest asphodel in the whole of the street. Read more
	Asphodels.(poem) Magazine article from: Poetry; 10/1/1998; ; 130 words ; ...The entire city is out of shoelaces. The machine-gun fire in the financial district has died down. But there are still a few asphodels left, in the fridge, just in case. HANS MAGNUS ENZENSBERGER was born in Kaufbeuren in 1929, and lives in Munich. At the age... Read more
	The good news of poetry.(COMMENTARY) Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 4/28/2009; 672 words ; ...a poem by William Carlos Williams, Of Asphodel, that Greeny Flower. He writes: It is...by his love for a fragile flower, an asphodel, a flower that in the course of the poem...was writing in a simpler time, though Asphodel comes to us from 1938, in the middle... Read more
	BOOKS RECEIVED.(recently published poetry books)(Bibliography) Magazine article from: Poetry; 8/1/1999; 700+ words ; ...Hamilton Adair. Random House. $12.95. Harbors & Spirits, by Jeffrey Renard Allen. Asphodel Press. $14.95. In Natural Light, by Michael Anania. Asphodel Press. $14.95. Learning by Heart: Contemporary American Poetry About School, ed. by Maggie... Read more
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	Another dimension.(Poem) Magazine article from: Emerging Infectious Diseases; 2/1/2002; ; 31 words ; Another dimension It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. Asphodel, That Greeny Flower by William Carlos Williams, a physician and poet Read more
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