While in it holly is not actually described, Amiens's song will always remain the song of songs to holly:
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,
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot;
Though thou the waters warp
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered 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.
IVY (Hedera Helix). Shakespeare mentions ivy twice: in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" where Titania, bidding Bottom sleep, says:
Sleep thou and I will wind thee in my arms ...
the female ivy so
Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.[86]
and in "The Tempest," when Prospero compares his false brother with the ivy:
The ivy, which had hid my princely trunk,
And suck'd my verdure out on 't.[87]
[86] Act IV, Scene I.