352 THE PATHOS OF THE ROSE IN POETRY 



Not always violets nor lilies bloom ; 

 The sharp thorn bristles in the rose's room. 

 And thus for thee, fair boy, shall gray hairs grow, 

 While envious time delves wrinkles on thy brow. 



I might also quote an epigram of Rufinus to Rhodocleia, 

 in which he bids her bind blossoms on her brow, reminding 

 her the while that : 



avdels Kal \-fjyeis Kal <rv ical 6 ffTf<f>avos. 



For tune fades thee as he fades the roses ; 

 Nor they nor thou may revive again. 



Such, before the date of Ausonius, were the slender contribu- 

 tions of classic poets to the pathos of rose-literature. 



With the revival of letters in the fifteenth century, the 

 passages from Catullus and Ausonius which I have chosen as 

 the themes for my discourse fell like seeds on fertile soil in 

 Italy, and bore abundant flowers of poetry, which spread their 

 perfume, afterwards, through Europe. The melancholy which 

 survived from mediae valism at that epoch, and the vivid 

 interest in nature which characterised the Renaissance, com- 

 bined to draw the attention of scholar-poets to the Idyll of 

 Ausonius. This Idyll, or elegy, as it might better be called, 

 reappears, but slightly altered, and with some distinctive 

 additions, in the ' Corinto ' of Lorenzo de' Medici : 



L' altra mattina in un mio piccolo orto 

 Andavo : e '1 sol sorgente con suoi rai 

 Uscia, non gia ch' io lo vedessi scorto. 



Sonvi piantati dentro alcuni rosai ; 

 A quai rivolsi le mie vaghe ciglie 

 Per quel che visto non avevo mai. 



Eranvi rose candide e vermiglie : 

 Alcuna a foglia a foglia al sol si spiega ; 

 Stretto prima, poi par s' apra scompiglie ; 



Altra piu giovinetta si dislega 

 Appena dalla boccia : eravi ancora 

 Chi le sue chiuse foglie all' aer niega ; 



Altra cadendo a pie il terreno inflora. 

 Cosi le vidi nascere e morire 

 E passar lor vaghezza in men d' un' ora. 



Quando languenti e pallide vidi ire 



