Rosa Quotations And Poems
For those who love the Queen of flowers
Truths and roses have thorns about them. – Henry David Thoreau
And I will make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies. – Christopher Marlowe
The Queen of Flowers
I dreamt the Roses one time went To meet and sit in Parliament;
The place for these, and for the rest
Of flowers, was thy spotless breast.
Over the which a state was drawn
Of tiffany, or cob-web lawn;
Then in that Parly all those powers
Voted the Rose the Queen of flowers;
But so, as that herself should be
The Maid of Honour unto thee.
-Robert Herrick
Ode 53
Lovely Rose! thy genial power
Sweetly soothes the sickly hour;
O’er the grave thy fragrance spread
We sink in quiet to the dead.
When the envious hand of Time
Nips the honours of thy prime
Fresh in youth thy odours bear
Richness to the ambient air.
~Anacreon
Parting they seemed to tread upon the air,
Twin roses by the zephyr blown apart
Only to meet again more close.
~John Keats
The Dead Rose
O rose, who dares to name thee?
No longer roseate now, nor soft, nor sweet,
But pale, and hard, and dry, as stubblewheat,
Kept seven years in a drawer, thy titles shame thee.
The breeze that used to blow thee
Between the hedgerow thorns, and take away
An odour up the lane to last all day,—
If breathing now,—unsweetened would forego thee.
The sun that used to smite thee,
And mix his glory in thy gorgeous urn,
Till beam appeared to bloom, and flower to burn,—
If shining now,—with not a hue would light thee.
The dew that used to wet thee,
And, white first, grow incarnadined, because
It lay upon thee where the crimson was,—
If dropping now,—would darken where it met thee.
The fly that lit upon thee,
To stretch the tendrils of its tiny feet,
Along thy leaf’s pure edges, after heat,—
If lighting now,—would coldly overrun thee.
The bee that once did suck thee,
And build thy perfumed ambers up his hive,
And swoon in thee for joy, till scarce alive,—
If passing now,—would blindly overlook thee.
The heart doth recognise thee,
Alone, alone! The heart doth smell thee sweet,
Doth view thee fair, doth judge thee most complete,—
Though seeing now those changes that disguise thee.
Yes, and the heart doth owe thee
More love, dead rose! than to such roses bold
As Julia wears at dances, smiling cold!—
Lie still upon this heart—which breaks below thee!
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Rose and Life
As a flower in the garden
Slow buds the pink dawn like a rose
From out night’s gray and cloudy sheath;
Softly and still it grows and grows,
Petal by petal, leaf by leaf.
~Susan Coolidge
“The Sick Rose”
by William Blake
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy
Rose Poetry
A Mother’s Joy
Roses
~George Eliot
You love the roses – so do I. I wish
The sky would rain down roses, as they rain
From off the shaken bush. Why will it not?
Then all the valley would be pink and white
And soft to tread on. They would fall as light
As feathers, smelling sweet: and it would be
Like sleeping and yet waking, all at once.
I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.
– Emma Goldman
The best rose-bush, after all, is not that which has the fewest thorns, but that which bears the finest roses.
– Henry Van Dyke
Observations on the Rose:
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the beloved’s bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.
~Percy Shelley
THE ROSE
The lily has a smooth stalk,
Will never hurt your hand;
But the rose upon her brier
Is lady of the land.
There’s sweetness in an apple tree,
And profit in the corn;
But lady of all beauty
Is a rose upon a thorn.
When with moss and honey
She tips her bending brier,
And half unfolds her glowing heart,
She sets the world on fire.
~Christina Rossetti
The Allegorical Rose
As a flower in the garden
Bending toward the sun,
Unfolds it’s tiny petals
One, by one, by one…
So faith expands it’s beauty
Until at last it grows
Into life’s lasting flower…
The heart’s fair perfect rose.
~Rebecca Helmann~
The Rose is gowned in petaled grace and lovely beyond telling;
She always lifts a friendly face, regardless of her dwelling.
Her golden silence can express to us, no matter where, joy shared;
give solace in distress from those who fondly care. The Rose has ways of saying things we much delight to hear;
without a spoken word, she brings and keeps our loved ones near
~Laura S. Beck
Shakespeare’s Sonnet LIV
O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!
The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odour which doth in it live.
The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns and play as wantonly
When summer’s breath their masked buds discloses:
But, for their virtue only is their show,
They live unwoo’d and unrespected fade,
Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;
Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made:
And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
When that shall fade, my verse distills your truth.
“If love were what the rose is,
And I were like the leaf,
Our love would grow together,
In sad or sighing weather.”
~Swinburne~
THE WAYSIDE ROSE
Out on the old highway it grows,
The wayside rose,
Rooted deep in the hard dry ground,
Swathed in the weeds that crowd it round,
Tended by naught but the rain and sun,
Its loveliness hidden, praised by none,
Contented, it blooms for the One who knows
Why it is there, This wayside rose.
Beaten by every wind that blows,
This wayside rose,
Asking not for a better place,
Where to unfold with ease and grace,
Wasting no time with excuses vain,
It brightens the weed-filled dusty lane,
An exquisite flower that blooms and grows,
Perfect for Him, This wayside rose.
–Sarah Wilson Middleton, ARA 1926
Petals
Life is a stream
On which we strew
Petal by petal the flower of our heart;
The end lost in dream,
They float past our view,
We only watch their glad, early start.
Freighted with hope,
Crimsoned with joy,
We scatter the leaves of our opening rose;
Their widening scope,
Their distant employ,
We never shall know. And the stream as it flows
Sweeps them away,
Each one is gone
Ever beyond into infinite ways.
We alone stay
While years hurry on,
The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays.
–Amy Lowell
But he that dares not
grasp the thorn should
never crave the rose.
~Anne Bronte
Of Roses
And the rose like a nymph to the bath addrest,
Which unveiled the depth of her glowing breast,
Till, fold after fold, to the fainting air,
The soul of her beauty and love lay bare.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
from ‘The Sensitive Plant’
THE ROSE
It is only a  tiny rosebud,
A flower of God’s design,
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
– The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I,
The flower God opens so sweetly,
In my hands would fade and die.
– I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God’s design,
Then how can I have wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
– So I’ll trust Him for His leading
Each moment of every day
And I’ll look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the pilgrim way.
– For the pathway that lies before me
My heavenly Father knows
I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments
Just as He unfolds the rose.
~Anonymous.
Roses
(For Katherine Bregy)
I went to gather roses and twine them in a ring,
For I would make a posy, a posy for the King.
I got an hundred roses, the loveliest there be,
From the white rose vine and the pink rose bush and from the red rose tree.
But when I took my posy and laid it at His feet
I found He had His roses a million times more sweet.
There was a scarlet blossom upon each foot and hand,
And a great pink rose bloomed from His side for the healing of the land.
Now of this fair and awful King there is this marvel told,
That He wears a crown of linked thorns instead of one of gold.
Where there are thorns are roses, and I saw a line of red,
A little wreath of roses around His radiant head.
A red rose is His Sacred Heart, a white rose is His face,
And His breath has turned the barren world to a rich and flowery place.
He is the Rose of Sharon, His gardener am I,
And I shall drink His fragrance in Heaven when I die.
‘But the hour that brought the scent of the rose, she lived it in Paradise.’
Rose of Eden by Rudyard Kipling
Truths and roses have thorns about them.
– Henry David Thoreau
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies.
– Christopher Marlowe
The sharp thorn often
produces delicate roses.
~Ovid
Posts For Those Who Love Roses
(not poetry)
Quotes and Poetry For Each Season
To A Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses
As late I rambled in the happy fields,
What time the skylark 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 excelled;
But when, O Wells! thy roses came to me,
My sense with their deliciousness was spelled:
Soft voices had they, that with tender plea
Whispered of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquelled.
~ John Keats
More Of The Roses
Language Of Flower Meanings
ROSE PETAL BEADS
Grow your own rose petals
ROSE PETAL BEADS
The heat of your body causes the beads to give off the smell of the rose.
- In enamel pan place one pound of red rose petals with just enough water to cover.
- Simmer very slowly for one hour but do not boil.Cover and let stand over night.
- Repeat these steps three more times.
- By the fourth day,the petals and water will have become a smooth paste.
- Take a small amount and roll it between your palms ,forming beads 1/4 inch in diameter.
- Pierce each ball with a needle for stringing and let the beads dry on newspaper in a warm closet.
- Thread the beads onto silk thread for your necklace.
These beads are sturdier than you would think,lasting several years and keeping their fragrance. They turn a polished red Sienna color.
Rose Meanings
Flower symbols to send a message
The Colors: Deep red is the Lover’s rose. Reds span the meanings of love’s desire from passion through loyal fidelity. th eyellow rose stood for jealousy in Victorian times, and in Eastern European cultures is frowned upon, but in America today the yellow rose stands for friendship and sympathy, and especially faithful remembrance. White roses are Bride’s favorite. It can stand for enduring loyalty, and in Scotland was a token of early marriage. A symbol of purity, a white rose represented innocence, or platonic love. Pink is the the rose of sweet thoughts. It is often used for congratulations of baby girls and for new mothers. A pink rose represents first love.Grow roses
Here are other interpretations of rose colors:
- Yellow – Decrease of love, jealousy
- White – I am worthy of you
- Red – I love you
- Red & white together – Unity, togetherness
- Deep red – Bashful shame
- Musk – Capricious beauty
- Thornless – Early attachment
- Single – Simplicity
More of Interest:
A selection of pages on the web
Many of these are modern colors with modern significance
ROSE (Bridal)-Happy love
ROSE (Damask)-Persian token of love
ROSE (deep crimson)-Mourning
ROSE (petal)-You may hope
ROSE (coral) – Desire
ROSE (orange) Fascination
ROSE (pink)-Perfect happiness, grace
ROSE (deep pink) – Thankfulness
ROSE lavender) – Enchantment|
ROSE (red)-Love, I love you, Respect
ROSE (spray) – I’ll remember – always
ROSE (thornless) – Love at first sight
ROSE (white) – Innocence and purity, Secrecy and silence
ROSE (white and red combination)-Unity, flower emblem of England
ROSE (dried white)-Death is preferable to loss of virtue
ROSE (yellow)-Joy, friendship, one yellow rose with 11 red ones means love & passion
ROSEBUD-Beauty and youth, a heart innocent of love
ROSEBUD (red)-Pure and lovely
ROSEBUD (white)-Girlhood
ROSEBUD (moss)-Confessions of love
ROSES (Bouquet of full bloom)-Gratitude
ROSES (Single full bloom)-I love you, I still love you
ROSES (head garland)-Beware of virtue, reward of merit, crown – symbol of superior merit
ROSE (musk cluster)-Charming