University of Virginia Library

ROSE!

Rose! regal rose!—how rich thou art,
Beauty blazeth at thy heart,
One treasury of precious things,
Art thou, whom gladsome summer brings
As the crown of all delight,
As the symbol of her right,
O'er each living heart to reign,
Sense and spirit to enchain—
Thee she brings—and we confess
The omnipotence of loveliness?
Rose! regal rose! transcendant flower,
Thou hast a refulgent dower,
Thou hast a bright opulence,
And a dreamy freight intense
Of odours, graces, burning dyes—
Sun of Earth! which like the skies,
Thou mak'st beautiful and bright,
All one blush of laughing light,—
Sun of Earth! we laud thee while
We do bask in thy red smile—
Thou art full of witcheries deep—
Thou thy sway dost ever keep—
Poets have made thee their theme,
Lovers wreathed thee with their dream,
Mourners laid thee by their dead,
Round the pallid pillowed head,
Maidens twined thee with their locks,
Conquerors, spared from battle shocks,
Have given thee at the banquet place
Victory's purple feast to grace—
Stern philosophers have loved thee,
Sage and statesmen old approved thee,
Monarchs 'midst their emblems worn thee'
On their crests of glory borne thee!
They have had thee strewed before them,
While their shouting people bore them,
To their coronation on,
To the altar—to the throne.
Rose—Oh! regal, regal rose,
Thou'rt the loveliest flower that blows—
A little summer of delight
Is gathered in thine urn so bright,
A rich Arabia of perfumes
In each leaf that blushing blooms;
Aye! a heaven of summer lies,
'Mid thy burning royal dyes,
In thy deep and dazzling breast
Nature's brightest flower and best!—
And thou mak'st, all sweet as fair,
One Arabia of the air—
That around thee broods and sighs
If in far Arabia lies
The soul of odour full and deep
That in bliss the sense doth steep!
Did they fable forth of old
A Flora of celestial mould?—
And name her Goddess of the Flowers
Guardian Queen of blossomed bowers—
Did they thus in the olden days,
And did they know thy crimson blaze?
Did they reck thy costly breath,
Did they boast thy crowning wreath,
How could they thro' fair summer's hours
Mistake the Goddess of the Flowers?—
Thou'rt their Goddess—glorious Rose!
Each to thee deep worship owes,
True allegiance—adoration—
Crown of all the flowered creation.
Regal Rose, thy matchless mien
Thee proclaimeth for their Queen,
Thou'rt the Flora of the flowers,
Thou'rt the Goddess of the bowers?
We the Rose their Goddess call
Reign in beauty o'er them all—
Still consummate flower remain
Darling of the Poet's strain,
Still light up the lover's dream
With a passion-painting gleam—
Still around the pallid dead
Tints of life-like beauty shed,
And cheat the mourner for awhile
With a warm reflected smile!
Still amidst the all glossy braids
O'er the brows of blushing maids,
Twine, bright flower!—and make more fair
The golden burnish of their hair!
At the conqueror's festal board,
Flower! all worshipped and adored,
Smile—and from his haughty heart
Half the sternness shall depart—
Win philosopher and sage
Still to read thy heavenly page,
Thy book of beauty still to read,
And honour nature's works indeed!
For in thee, as in the star,
Her vast powers developed are!
And her wond'rous skill we trace
As in worlds that lighten space—
In thy leaf and in thy stem,
She fashioned thee—she fashioned them!
Man can make nor flower to blow,
Nor world to blaze, nor may he know
All the mysteries of their making,
All the wonders of their waking—
When from Nothing they're called forth
Full of beauty, grace, and worth—
Thou shall set the blood astir
In heart of stern philosopher,
He shall look upon thy blaze
And thro' many a glowing maze
Shall his thoughts like lightning run,
All commingling into one—
For a deep and fervent sense
Of Nature's powerful Providence,
And her boundless goodness too,
Shall with influence just and true
Quicken all his heart and mind
Knowing for what ends designed
All her works and wonders are
Whether Flower or flaming Star—
Whether world in heav'ns abyss,
Or the tenderest growth of this.
Rose, still charm the sage's eye
With thy fair refulgency,
Still resplendently revealed,
Shine thou on the monarch's shield,
By the imperial eagle's side
Be thou placed in equal pride!—
Where the crowded symbols shine,
Telling of his glorious line,
Beam in beauty and in state,
And the blazon consecrate—
And upon his crest of glory,
Tell then rose! thine own sweet story.
Hint of nature, beauty, truth,
Breathe of love's own golden youth,
And around that proud crest twined
Do thou also rose! remind,
That Kings—like gorgeous flowers which gleam
Amidst their heraldries supreme
(Flowers that vanish from the field,
Though they fade not on their shield)
Must decline, and wane, and fall,
Sharing thus the doom of all!
Rose—still blush along the way
Where in long-drawn pomp's array
The coronation's train comes on
To seat the annointed on his throne,
There—'mid jewels' bickering blaze,
Startling suddenly the gaze,
'Mid the sweep of plumes that toss
Silvery in the sunlight's gloss,
'Mid the wave of banners wide
With their rich elaborate pride,
'Mid the Minster's shadows frowning,
Be the coronation's crowning!
Nothing fairer eye can see
'Mid its glories, flower, than thee;
Though thou'rt trampled, trodden down—
Thou'rt the coronation's crown.
All seems artificial there,
Saving thee—divinely fair;
There dost thou breathe, smile, and live—
Nature's representative!
And she reigns—ev'n there she reigns—
And her wonted sway retains,
In her lovely envoy's form,
Glowing, beautiful, and warm;
Rose—regal rose! for evermore
Let us praise thee and adore;
Nations-Empires pass away,
Sciences and arts decay,
Lost, forgotten, and unknown,
Towers and cities are o'erthrown;
Ages after ages—thou,
Rose, shalt reign as thou dost now,
Nature shall her pride renew—
Evermore as bright of hue,
Man shall evermore admire,
Ever laud thee—flower of fire!
'Tis as though Heaven's living blaze
Of still descending falling rays
In one spot gathered, mixed, entwined,
Together clustered and combined—
Had enkindled into thee—
Gloriously, triumphantly!
Sun of Earth! consummate rose!
Whose sweet leaves of light disclose
New enchantments without end,
While on them our looks we bend;
When this world shall pass away
On the dread and nameless day,
Shalt thou thenceforth be no more—
With thy beauty's boundless store!
Surely in unfading bowers
Thou wilt smile through changeless hours,
'Mid deathless blooms of Heav'nly birth,
Flower of Beauty—Sun of Earth!
Sun of Earth! thou dost even now—
As do all things fair as thou—
Remind of higher holier things,
And make us thirst for Heav'nly springs!