Amber, or the Swan (1)

With regard to amber, you doubtless share the general belief in the story that poplars on the banks of the river Eridanus shed tears of it in grief over ‘ Phaethon; and that these poplars are the sisters of Phaethon, who out of sorrow for the boy were changed into trees and still drip tears—of amber! Such tales, when I heard them from the lips of the poets, made me expect that if ever I got to the Eridanus, by going underneath one of the poplars and holding out a fold of my cloak I could supply myself with amber by catching a few of their tears.