Holly, Ivy, & Yew

Guinevere would sit, amid the holly and the ivy,

And there enthroned she’d hear the pleas of lovers vain

and true.

And there she’d sit serenely ‘neath the thorns upon the

holly,

the creepers of the ivy, and the bending boughs of yew.

One day there came before her, ‘neath the holly and the

ivy,

An uncle and a nephew and the woman both did woo.

Betrothed to the elder, but beloved of the younger

And bitter thorns of holly grew between the two.

The queen -- with rooted wisdom, like the holly and the

ivy --

Said, “Lovers’ hearts will cling like vines no matter

what they do.

But blessed is the woman who accepts her wedded duty

like the strong and supple branches of the bending

yew.”

And so she asked the uncle, ‘neath the holly and the

ivy,

Were he to have a choice, what day of wedding would he

choose:

To have a wife in summer, when all goodly things are

growing,

or to wait to take his lover ‘til the trees stood nude.

The uncle cast his gaze amid the holly and the ivy,

And greedily appraised the woman said to be his due.

“My lady Queen, I’ll take her when the trees have bared

their branches,

And the nights are at their longest, and diversions

few.”

So Guinevere sat smiling, ‘midst the holly and the ivy,

As maid and lover clung at what they thought was

dreadful news.

“My dear, you have your answer – you are free to wed

your lover

For this man has loosed the bonds that you could not

undo.

“For here where we are sitting, ‘neath the holly and

the ivy,

Is much the same in winter when the holly berries

bloom.

So go, and have my blessing ‘til the holly goes

unclothed,

and the creepers of the ivy, and the bending boughs of

yew…

These greenest boughs of holly, and of ivy, and of

yew.”