THE BRAMBLE 

 THE LATEST SMALL FRUIT 



To mention the bramble is to set up a related 

 order of ideas which vary with the circumstances 

 in which the name is introduced. In rhetoric, and 

 particularly in sermons, the bramble is a symbol 

 of the desolate place, pilgrimage in which is misery. 

 It goes with thorns and briars the trio of God- 

 forsaken regions. Outside rhetoric all three enjoy 

 quite another reputation. The thorn becomes the 

 hawthorn, a very pleasant shrub whether in flower 

 or fruit, and not at all partial to really desolate 

 places. Briar becomes wild rose, the adornment 

 of the hedges, ready to spring on the margins of 

 rich land spared by the farmer. More than the 

 other two the bramble makes a shape of growing 

 on desolate wastes, but that merely means that 

 it can grow nearly anywhere. The desolate place 

 is not its own choice ; it is the place in which 

 we tolerate it most. The places that I associate 

 with brambles are among the pleasantest places 

 I know. Here is one : a road runs almost due 

 north and south, and on its eastern side there is 

 a beech wood. On the westward side the land 

 slopes away from it for about a dozen feet, and 



