The Poetry Corner

To The Ivy.

By John Clare

Dark creeping Ivy, with thy berries brown, That fondly twists' on ruins all thine own, Old spire-points studding with a leafy crown Which every minute threatens to dethrone; With fearful eye I view thy height sublime, And oft with quicker step retreat from thence Where thou, in weak defiance, striv'st with Time, And holdst his weapons in a dread suspense. But, bloom of ruins, thou art dear to me, When, far from danger's way, thy gloomy pride Wreathes picturesque around some ancient tree That bows his branches by some fountain-side: Then sweet it is from summer suns to be, With thy green darkness overshadowing me.