The spot of green caught the traveler's eye,

And he plucked a sprig, as he passed by;

And then, as he held it, there came a thought

In his musing mind, with a meaning fraught

With other meanings.

"Ah, look!" said he,

"The spray is one—and its leaves are three,

A symbol of man, it seems to me,

As he was, as he is, and as he will be!

One of the leaves points back, the way