IVY. 
(Friendship.) 
j^'j 00 RE says : 
“When the ivy of friendship is green in our souls.” 
Dickens assumes the same meaning. 
THE IVY GREEN. 
C. DICKENS. 
Oh, a dainty plant is the ivy green, 
That creepeth o’er ruins old ; 
Of right choice food are his meals, I ween, 
In his cell so lone and cold. 
The walls must be crumbled, the stones decayed. 
To pleasure his dainty whim ; 
And the mouldering dust that years have made 
Is a merry meal for him. 
Creeping where no life is seen, 
A rare old plant is the ivy green. 
Fast he stealeth on, though he wears no wings, 
And a staunch old heart has he: 
How closely he twineth, how tight he clings 
To his friend, the huge oak-tree! 
