THE VERDANT ivy clings around 
    Yon moss be-mantled wall, 
As if it sought to hide the stones, 
    That crumbling soon must fall: 
That relic of a bygone age 
    Now tottering to decay, 
Has but one friend—the ivy—left. 
    The rest have passed away.
The fairy flowers that once did bloom 
    And smile beneath its shade; 
They lingered till the autumn came, 
    And autumn saw them fade: 
The emerald leaves that blushed between— 
    The winds away have blown; 
But yet to cheer the mournful scene, 
    The ivy liveth on.
 
Thus heavenly hope will still survive, 
    When earthly joys have fled; 
And all the flow’ry dreams of youth 
    Lie withering and dead. 
When Winter comes—it twines itself 
    Around the human heart; 
And like the ivy on the wall 
    Will ne’er from thence depart.
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