Meaning of hebenon | Babel Free

Definitions

A plant or flower used in Elizabethan times to make a poison (compare with John Gower's hebenus).

archaic, uncountable

Examples

“In few, the blood of Hydra, Lerna's bane, The juice of hebon, and Cocytus' breath.”

“[…]vpon my ſecure houre Thy vncle came, with iuyce of Hebona In a viall[…]”

“Vpon my ſecure hower thy Vncle ſtole With iuyce of curſed Hebenon in a Violl[…]”

“Grim Mancinella haunts the mossy bed, Brews her black hebenon, and stealing near Pours the curst venom in his tortured ear.”

“Tree of many names, and under any of them, of ill repute, was the hebenon, hebona, hebenus, hebon or heben. At best, poets wrote of its narcotic effects. As early as 1386, John Gower wrote in Confessio Amantis, of 'Hebenus, that slepy tre'.”

“From a compartment in his pouch, ranveer produces the dark glass vial of hebenon solution and gives it a few quick shakes. If there were a handbook for such things, it would advise that hebenon is best used in circumstances where the subject is in a very deep sleep or a coma.”

CEFR level