(Prunus Spinosa.)
Adorning all our hedge-rows, for it comes
Before my much-loved Hawthorn. Its small plums
(Even yet I dearly love to see them grow,—
Mark well that delicate bloom upon the fruit!) 5
Were not too tart in boyhood for my taste.
Even now I would protect them; for no waste
Should be on earth: man, or bird, or beast,
Have need of all; and in keen winter-time
Many a sweet songster would be scant of food 10
Had not the God of Nature seen it good
To order thorns and briars in our clime,
After their flowering, each in order meet,
To furnish forth the birds a most delicious treat.
George Markham Tweddell
[Sonnets on Trees and Flowers, p. 44]
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