152 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



The ordinary and neglected little tree which inspired 

 the muse of Bloomfield, often presents a cheerful appear- 

 ance when covered with white flowers, amid leafless and 

 dark associates. Yet those blossoms fall in showers with 

 the slightest breeze, a peculiarity thus noticed by the poet 

 Cunningham, as offering a fit emblem of that insidious 

 complaint, too often observable in 



" Youth the vision of a morn, 

 ^ That flees the coming day -. 



It is the blossom of a thorn, 

 Which rude winds sweep away." 



When mellowed by early frost, the fruit of the black- 

 thorn is so tempered by a blended sweetness and roughness 

 as not to be unpleasant ; and when bruised and put into 

 wine, it imparts a beautiful red colour and agreeable sub-acid 

 roughness, hence it is much in request for making British 

 port-wine. The juice forms an indelible ink for marking 

 linen ; and the tender leaves are the best substitute for tea. 



