Page:Poems that every child should know (ed. Burt, 1904).djvu/97

Rh The Ivy Green.

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!

And slyly he traileth along the ground,

And his leaves he gently waves,

And he joyously twines and hugs around

The rich mould of dead men's graves.

Creeping where no life is seen,

A rare old plant is the ivy green.

Whole ages have fled, and their works decayed,

And nations have scattered been;