The Ivy. 223 



the Ivy should be consecrated to such unhallowed purposes. 

 Besides the consideration of its usual haunts, there is something 

 so sombre in its appearance as makes it seem but little akin to 

 revelry. One might almost imagine that in wreathing the gob- 

 let with its graceful branches, garnished with bright but poison- 

 ous berries, it was designed to point a moral by alluding to the 

 sweet poison of misused wine. We are indebted to the Ivy for 

 the picturesque beauty it throws around every object to which it 

 attaches itself; no architectural ornaments, however classical, no 

 tracery, however light and elegant, can vie in effect with this 

 wild tapestry. But not only is the eye indebted to it, the imagi 

 nation also shares in the obligation for the touching imagery it 

 supplies. Springing wherever there is ruin and decay, it decks 

 indiscriminately the loftiest height and the humblest grove, and 

 that with such exquisite grace that we doubt whether Adam, to 

 whom his fair consort assigned the task of directing the clasp- 

 ing Ivy where to climb, could have twined it more tastefully. 

 Aime Martin says, that faithful love secures with a branch of Ivy 

 the quickly fading roses which adorn the brows. Friendship has 

 chosen for its device an Ivy which clothes a fallen tree with 

 the motto: Rien ne peut m'en detacher. In Greece, the altar 

 of Hymen was surrounded with Ivy, a sprig of which was pre- 

 sented by the priest to a new married spouse, as the symbol of 

 an indissoluble knot. Ingratitude has sometimes been represent- 

 ed by Ivy, as when it attaches itself to a young tree, it confines 

 the stem, and consequently prevents the free circulation of the 

 sap. The author of a French work has repelled this calumny. 

 To him the Ivy appears to be the emblem of eternal friendship. 



The Ivy shuns the city wall 



"Where busy clamorous crowds intrude, 

 And climbs the desolated hall 



In silent solitude. 

 The time-worn arch, the fallen dome, 

 Are roots for its eternal home. 



Carrington makes it the symbol of desolation, *but we love it 

 best as the emblem of Friendship It is a popular error that it 

 belongs to the class of parasitical plants, deriving its support 

 from the tree which it environs, when in fact it is sustained by 

 its own vital powers ; its roots are fixed in the earth, and the sap 



