THE ROSE. 



The different kinds of Roses are quite numerous ; and 

 botanists find it very difficult to determine with accuracy 

 which are species and which are varieties. On this account, 

 Linnseus, and some other eminent authors, are inclined to 

 think that there is only one real species of Rose, which is 

 the Rosa Canina, or Dog-rose of the hedges, &c., and that 

 all the other sorts are accidental varieties of it. However, 

 according to the Linnsean arrangement, they stand divided 

 into fourteen species, each comprehending varieties, which 

 in some sorts are but few, in others numerous. 



Poetry is lavish of Roses : it heaps them into, beds, weaves 

 them into crowns, twines them into arbours, forges them 

 into chains, and plants them in the bosom of beauty. It not 

 only delights to bring in the Rose itself upon every occasion, 

 but seizes each particular beauty it possesses as an object 

 of comparison with the loveliest works of Nature ; — as soft 

 as a Rose leaf; as sweet as a Rose; Rosy Clouds ; &c. &c. 



The eastern poets have united the Rose with the nightin- 

 gale — the Venus of Flowers with the Apollo of birds. — 

 The Rose is supposed to burst forth from its bud at the song 

 of the nightingale. 



I SAW the sweetest flower wild Nature yields, 

 A fresh-blown Musk Rose. 



ANON. 



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