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prettygoodwordaconite (AK-uh-nait) - n., any of about 250 plants, many of them poisonous, belonging to the genus Aconitum (in the buttercup family) having irregular flowers usually in loose clusters; any of around eight closely related plants of the genus Eranthis, more usually called winter aconite.
Also called monkshood, wolfsbane, leopardsbane, mousebane, women's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, and blue rocket. Monkshood is especially applied to A. napellus, which was cultivated for medicinal purposes (and used very carefully because poisonous. Winter aconite is among the first flowers of spring where they grow. The word is from French aconit, from Latin aconītum, from Greek akonīton, the name of the plant, of uncertain origin.
Deep in the earth
I woke, I stirred.
I said: “Was that the Spring I heard?
For something called!”
“No, no,” they said;
“Go back to sleep. Go back to bed.
Up, up, I climbed,
“You’re far too soon;
The world’s too cold
For you, so small.” So I was told.
But how could I
Go back to sleep?
I could not wait; I had to peep!
And here am I.
How wide the earth! How great the sky!
O wintry world,
See me, awake!
Spring calls, and comes; ’tis no mistake.
---L.
Also called monkshood, wolfsbane, leopardsbane, mousebane, women's bane, devil's helmet, queen of poisons, and blue rocket. Monkshood is especially applied to A. napellus, which was cultivated for medicinal purposes (and used very carefully because poisonous. Winter aconite is among the first flowers of spring where they grow. The word is from French aconit, from Latin aconītum, from Greek akonīton, the name of the plant, of uncertain origin.
Deep in the earth
I woke, I stirred.
I said: “Was that the Spring I heard?
For something called!”
“No, no,” they said;
“Go back to sleep. Go back to bed.
Up, up, I climbed,
“You’re far too soon;
The world’s too cold
For you, so small.” So I was told.
But how could I
Go back to sleep?
I could not wait; I had to peep!
And here am I.
How wide the earth! How great the sky!
O wintry world,
See me, awake!
Spring calls, and comes; ’tis no mistake.
—Cicely Mary Barker
---L.
