THE PATHOS OF THE ROSE IN POETRY 363 



It is now time to trace the influence of the Catullian and 

 Ausonian motives over English and French poetry. Spenser's 

 magnificent paraphrase from Tasso follows the original closely, 

 but omits, whether intentionally or not, to dwell upon the line 

 derived through Ariosto from Catullus. 1 



The whiles some one did chaunt this lovely lay : 

 Ah ! see, whoso fair thing dost fain to see, 

 In springing flower the image of the day. 

 Ah ! see the Virgin Rose, how sweetly she 

 Dost first peep forth with bashful modesty, 

 That fairer seems the less ye see her may. 

 Lo, see soon after how more bold and free 

 Her bared bosom she doth broad display ; 



Lo, see soon after how she fades and falls away. 



So passeth, in the passing of a day, 



Of mortal life the leaf, the bud, the flower ; 

 Ne more doth flourish after first decay, 

 That erst was sought to deck both bed and bower 

 Of many a lady and many a paramour. 

 Gather therefore the rose whilst yet in prime, 

 For soon comes age that will her pride deflower : 

 Gather the rose of love whilst yet is time, 



Whilst loving thou mayst loved be with equal crime. 



It so happens that none of the pieces which I have hitherto 

 presented in this essay, with the exception of Tasso's stanzas 

 and Bayley's version of them, occur in Mrs. Boyle's book. 

 This does not prove the poverty of her anthology, but the 

 extraordinary richness of rose-literature. In tracing the 

 influence of Ausonius and Catullus upon modern poetry, I 

 shall, from this point forward, be able to refer to the pages of 

 ' Ros Rosarum.' Ronsard's sonnet, * Comme on voit sur la 

 branche,' is interesting, as a somewhat faithful study from 

 Catullus ; but the maiden rose for whom he wrote it, had 

 been cropped by death, not by dishonour. 2 His more cele- 

 brated lyric, 'Mignonne, allez voir si la rose,' which has been 

 so elegantly translated by Mr. Andrew Lang, refines upon the 

 motive of Ausonius. 3 Here, in the French ' Cueillez, cu^illez 



1 Faery Queen, ii. xii. 74, 75. 

 2 Ros Rosarum, p. 78. 3 Ibid. p. 79. 



