We outgrow love, like other things 1
And put it in the Drawer－
Till it an Antique fashion shows－
Like Costumes Grandsires wore.
And put it in the Drawer－
Till it an Antique fashion shows－
Like Costumes Grandsires wore.
(F.1094/J.887)
[1] outgrow love:: to grow too over without restriction (by us). Love:: love vine, dodder, a parasitic plant.
[2] put, Drawer:: to dry the plant slowly.
[3, 4] Antique, Costumes:: dried love vines look like brown clothes.
[4] Grandsires:: old men, a hint on dodder; to dodder means to tremble or shake from frailty, like an old man.
The dodder, or love-vine, is a curious plant. It lives on other plants. It comes up out of the ground and clings to any plant that happens to be near it. After it is well fastened, and has grown considerably, its root in the ground dies. The little vine does not need it any longer, for it clings by real roots to the plant up which it runs. This is .the reason that it is called love-vine; for, like love, it lives on that to which it clings. This vine has no leaves, and it is of a bright-yellow color. So it is sometimes called gold-thread vine. ─ The Child's Book of Nature (1857)