270 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



when it was first formed ; he speaks of it, too, as the flower of 

 Bacchus : 



' With nectar drops, a ruby tide, 

 The sweetly orient buds they dyed. 

 And bade them bloom ; the flowers divine 

 Of him who sheds the teeming vine.' 



Some say they were dyed with the blood of Cupid ; and 



' J T is said, as Cupid danced among 



The gods, he down the nectar flung ; 

 Which, on the white Rose being shed, 

 Made it forever after red.' 



But the general opinion is, that the Rose is indebted to Venus 

 for its beautiful blushes. 



" Perhaps the most beautiful season of the Rose is when 

 partly blown; then too she still promises us a continuance 

 of delight ; but when full-blown, she inspires us with the fear 

 of losing her. 



" Constance, expatiating on the beauty of her son, says, 



' Nature and fortune joined to make thee great ; 

 Of nature's gifts thou mayst with Lilies boast, 

 And with the half-blown Rose.' 



" The bed of roses is not altogether a fiction. ' The Roses 

 of the Sinan Nile, or garden of the Nile, attached to the Em- 

 peror of Morocco's palace, are unequalled ; and mattresses are 

 made of their leaves, for men of rank to recline upon.' 



" 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. 



" A festival is held in Persia, called the Feast of Roses, which 

 lasts the whole time they are in bloom. 



' And all is ecstasy, for now 

 The valley holds its Feast of Roses ; 



