Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the green holly;
most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly! This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp As friend remember'd not.
Heigh ho, sing heigh ho, unto the green holly:
most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly! This life is most jolly.
William Shakespeare
O 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 view these things with curious eyes,
And moralize;
And in this wisdom of the Holly-tree
Can emblem 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 trees 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? -
So, serious should my youth appear among
The thoughtless throng;
So would I seem, amid the young and gay,
More grave than they;
That in my age as cheerful I might be
As the green winter of the Holly-tree.
Robert Southey
The holly and the Ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
In ancient times, holly was considered
magical and sacred
because of its shiny leaves
and ability to bear
fruit in winter.
The Druids believed
that holly,
with its shiny
leaves and red berries
stayed green to
keep the earth beautiful
when the sacred oak
lost it leaves.
It was believed
that if you hung holly
over your bed, you
would have good dreams.
At one time, holly was
connected to the
mythical Holly King - patron
king of the winter
solstice. As the
Winter Solstice Festivals
evolved, holly remained a
part of the
holiday celebrations.
Holly was the sacred plant
of Saturn
and was used at the Roman
Saturnalia festival to
honor him.
Romans gave one
another holly wreaths and carried
them about decorating images
of Saturn with it.
Centuries later, in December,
while other Romans
continued their pagan worship,
Christians celebrated the
birth of Jesus.
To avoid persecution,
they decked their homes with
Saturnalia holly.
As Christian numbers
increased and their customs
prevailed, holly lost its
pagan association
and became a symbol of
Christmas.
It's pretty weedy here but it makes a great hedge and has those beautiful red berries in the winter.
I'm joining with Pam at Digging who hosts Foliage Follow Up every month on the day after bloom day to remind us of the importance of foliage in our gardens.
