58 



THE HOLLY. 



liarity of the Holly was observed, and thus beau- 

 tifully moralized on by the poet Southey : 



" 0 Reader ! hast thou ever stood to see 



The Holly- tree ? 

 The eye, that contemplates it well, perceives 



Its glossy leaves 

 Ordered by an Intelligence so wise, 

 As might confound the atheist's sophistries. 



" Below a circling fence its leaves are seen, 

 Wrinkled and keen ; 

 No grazing cattle through their prickly round 



Can reach to wound ; 

 But as they grow where nothing is to fear, 

 Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear. 



" I love to see these things with curious eyes. 



And moralize : 

 And in this wisdom of the Holly- tree 



Can emblems see, 

 Wherewith, perchance, to make a pleasant rhyme, 

 One which may profit in the after- time. 



" Thus, though abroad perchance I might appear 



Harsh and austere. 

 To those who on my leisure would intrude 



Reserved and rude ; 

 Gentle at home amid my friends I 'd be. 

 Like the high leaves upon the Holly- tree. 



" And should my youth, as youth is apt, I know. 



Some harshness show, 

 All vain asperities I day by day 



Would wear away, 

 Till the smooth temper of my age should be 

 Like the high leaves upon the Holly-tree. 



And as when all the summer leaves are seen 



So bright and green. 

 The Holly-leaves their fadeless hues display, 



Less bright than they — 

 But when the bare and wintry woods we see, 

 What then so cheerful as the Holly-tree ? — 



