By the Masters
A Rose.
A sepal, petal, and a thorn
Upon a common summer's
morn,
A flash of dew, a bee or
two,
A breeze
A caper in the
trees,--
And I 'm a rose!
Emily Dickinson
To a Friend who sent me some
Roses.
As late I rambled in the happy
fields,
What time the sky-lark shakes the
tremulous dew
From his lush clover covert;--when
anew
Adventurous knights take up their dinted
shields:
I saw the sweetest flower wild nature
yields,
A fresh-blown musk-rose; 'twas the first
that threw
Its sweets upon the summer: graceful it
grew
As is the wand that queen Titania
wields.
And, as I feasted on its
fragrancy,
I thought the garden-rose it far
excell'd:
But when, O Wells! thy roses came to
me
My sense with their deliciousness was
spell'd:
Soft voices had they, that with tender
plea
Whisper'd of peace, and truth, and
friendliness unquell'd.
Keats, John. 1884. Poetical
Works.
Blue
Roses
The Light that Failed
Roses red and roses white
Plucked I for my love's
delight.
She would none of all my
posies--
Bade me gather her blue
roses.
Half the world I wandered
through,
Seeking where such flowers
grew.
Half the world unto my
quest
Answered me with laugh and
jest.
Home I came at wintertide,
But my silly love had died
Seeking with her latest
breath
Roses from the arms of
Death.
It may be beyond the grave
She shall find what she would
have.
Mine was but an idle
quest--
Roses white and red are
best!
Rudyard Kipling
My pretty Rose
Tree
A flower was offer'd to
me,
Such a flower as May never
bore;
But I said 'I've a Pretty
Rose-tree,'
And I passed the sweet flower
o'er.
Then I went to my Pretty
Rose-tree,
To tend her by day and by
night;
But my rose turn'd away with
jealousy,
And her thorns were my only
delight.
William Blake
Note
Tree
roses are often times two roses combined.
A strong grower is grafted onto a root
understock. And onto a stem is budded
any bush rose--hybrid tea, floribunda,
grandiflora, polyantha, miniature, and even climbers.
They are not for the inexperienced
gardener. They need more care than any of the
mentioned species.
Back