HOLLY. 
195 
groups, around which the light plays and produces a thou¬ 
sand shades, which all blending together in the same tint, 
forms that matchless harmony which the painter despairs 
to imitate, and the most indifferent observer delights to 
behold. What labour has Nature bestowed to create this 
fragile shrub, which seems only given for the gratification 
of the senses ! What an union of perfume, of freshness, 
of grace, and of delicacy ! What variety in detail! What 
beauty as a whole! 
The lilac, various in array, now white, 
Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set 
With purple spikes pyramidal, as if 
Studious of ornament, yet unresolved. 
Which hue she most approved, she chose them all. 
cowper. 
Beauty’s rosy ray 
In flying blushes richly play; 
Blushes of that celestial flame 
Which lights the cheek of virgin shame. 
ANACREON. 
THE HOLLY. 
In that delightful work, Jesse’s Gleanings in Natural 
History, the eloquent author, speaking of the holly, says, 
— “The economy of trees, plants, and vegetables, is a 
curious subject of inquiry, and in all of them we may 
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