The Holly and the Ivy

They decorated every room, from the kitchen 

where every lustre jug had its sprig in its mouth, 

every brass candlestick had its chaplet, 

every copper saucepan and preserving pan had its wreath of 

shining berries and leaves,

 through the hall, which was a bower of green,

to the two parlours which were festooned 

and hung with holly and boughs of fir,

 and ivy berries dipped in red raddle, 
left over from the sheep marking.

Holly decked every picture and ornament.

Sprays hung over the bacon and twisted round hams 
and herb bunches.

the clock carried a crown on his head,

and every dish-cover had a little sprig.

Susan kept an eye on the lonely forgotten humble things,

the jelly moulds and colanders and nut-meg graters,

and made them happy with glossy leaves.

Everything seemed to speak, to ask for its morsel of greenery,

and she tried to leave out nothing.

from The Country Child by Alison Uttley