| E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. |
| | | Phœnix. | | |
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Said to live a certain number of years, when it makes in Arabia a nest of spices, sings a melodious dirge, flaps his wings to set fire to the pile, burns itself to ashes, and comes forth with new life, to repeat the former one. (See PHŒNIX PERIOD.) | 1 |
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| “The enchanted pile of that lonely bird, |
| Who sings at the last his own death-lay, |
| And in music and perfume dies away.” | |
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Thomas Moore: Paradise and the Peri. |
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Phœnix, as a sign over chemists’ shops, was adopted from the association of this fabulous bird with alchemy. Paracelsus wrote about it, and several of the alchemists employed it to symbolise their vocation. | 2 |
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A phœnix among women. A phœnix of his kind. A paragon, unique; because there was but one phœnix at a time. | 3 |
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| “If she be furnished with a mind so rare, |
| She is alone the Arabian bird.” | |
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Shakespeare: Cymbeline, i. 7. |
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The Spanish Phœnix. Lope de Vega is so called by G. H. Lewes. | 4 |
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| “Insigne poeta, a cuyo verso o prosa |
| Ninguno le aventaja ni aun Mega.” | |
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