Primrose Paths

Cowslip wine, since it was slightly narcotic, had a reputation for banishing care. "For the future," Pope once wrote, "I'll drown all high thoughts in the Lethe (oblivion) of Cowslip Wine."

Culpeper commented, "Of the leaves of Primroses is made as fine a salve to heal wounds as any that I know." Primrose was also employed as a sedative and as a remedy for arthritis and gout.

On the darker side, the goddess Bertha is supposed to have enticed unwary children into her palace with primroses. And Webster defines the "primrose path" as that of pleasure and self-indulgence. Even more ominously, it is also described as "a course that seems easy but that leads to disaster." A character in Macbeth speaks of the "professions that go the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire."

People craving a life of ease these days are trying to find their own entrance to the primrose path. They want, like the poet, to be lulled into forgetfulness of the things that are really important. But the Lethe he refers to was a river in Hades, the home of the dead in Greek mythology. As Ophelia knew, the "steep and thorny" road may be harder, but its destination is much to be preferred. Perhaps those primroses which sting rather than lull are doing us a favor after all!

Note: Cowslip photo is by Tom Clothier at http://www.anet.com/~manytimes/index.htm

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