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loss of Adonis ; as the White Rose is also said to have 

 sprung from the tears which the goddess shed upon that 

 occasion. Ample reasons these for dedicating them to her.' 



' AVhite as the native Rose before the change, 

 Which Venus' blood did in her leaves impress.' 



Anacreon tells us that it was dyed with nectar by the 

 gods 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 



' '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 Emperor of Morocco's palace, are unequalled ; and 

 mattresses are made of their leaves, for men of rank to re- 

 cline upon.' 



"The Eastern poets have united the Rose with the 

 nightingale ; the Venus of flowers with the Apollo of 



