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ADDRESS TO A SPACIOUS HOLLY TREE BELONGING TO MRS. INGRAM, AT WOOLFORD HOUSE, WARWICKSHIRE.
Hail! happy, hardy Evergreen,
Who fresh and fair art always seen;
And through each long revolving year
Dost still immutable appear;
Unlike the evanescent flowers,
Which only bloom in sunny bowers,
Or those frail shrubs and stinted trees,
That flourish in the warming breeze,
Then, in precipitate decay,
Pass, like the Lady-bird, away;
No more to sport, till May's best sky
Revives the vernal Butterfly!
Who fresh and fair art always seen;
And through each long revolving year
Dost still immutable appear;
Unlike the evanescent flowers,
Which only bloom in sunny bowers,
Or those frail shrubs and stinted trees,
That flourish in the warming breeze,
Then, in precipitate decay,
Pass, like the Lady-bird, away;
No more to sport, till May's best sky
Revives the vernal Butterfly!
Apt Prototype of those who bask
In Fortune's shine, then drop the mask;
And those who Friendship, weak and poor,
Profess, and then are heard no more!
Too feeble for the world's harsh strife,
Too fragile for the storms of life.
But, hail thou hardy Evergreen,
That still unchangeable art seen;
Fair Emblem of a faithful Friend,
Who can both shelter and defend;
By Nature strong and potent made,
To guard the Dome thy branches shade!
And never since that Dome was rear'd,
And thy first pointed leaves appear'd—
Oh! never since thy parent Earth
Nurs'd those unfading leaves to birth,
E'en to the present hour sublime,
That shows thee still in glossy prime,
Tho' many a century be past,
Triumphant o'er each wintry blast;—
No, never didst thou shade impart
To a more kind or generous heart
Than hers who owns thy soft retreat,
Wisdom and Worth's establish'd seat;
For she, like thee, her succour lends,
To shelter and protect her Friends;
In antient hospitable pride,
To spread her bounties far and wide;
In storms and calms, like thee serene,
Like thee, A FRIENDLY EVERGREEN.
In Fortune's shine, then drop the mask;
And those who Friendship, weak and poor,
Profess, and then are heard no more!
Too feeble for the world's harsh strife,
Too fragile for the storms of life.
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That still unchangeable art seen;
Fair Emblem of a faithful Friend,
Who can both shelter and defend;
By Nature strong and potent made,
To guard the Dome thy branches shade!
And never since that Dome was rear'd,
And thy first pointed leaves appear'd—
Oh! never since thy parent Earth
Nurs'd those unfading leaves to birth,
E'en to the present hour sublime,
That shows thee still in glossy prime,
Tho' many a century be past,
Triumphant o'er each wintry blast;—
No, never didst thou shade impart
To a more kind or generous heart
Than hers who owns thy soft retreat,
Wisdom and Worth's establish'd seat;
For she, like thee, her succour lends,
To shelter and protect her Friends;
In antient hospitable pride,
To spread her bounties far and wide;
In storms and calms, like thee serene,
Like thee, A FRIENDLY EVERGREEN.
But when at length even thou shalt fade,
And Time shall branch and root invade,
When not a leaf of thine shall live,
Her Worth shall Time itself survive,
And bloom a fair and goodly Tree,
When not a trace remains of thee.
And Time shall branch and root invade,
When not a leaf of thine shall live,
Her Worth shall Time itself survive,
And bloom a fair and goodly Tree,
When not a trace remains of thee.
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