

THE ROSE. 5 
exhausting its eulogium; for its allurements 
increase with familiarity, and every fresh view 
presents new beauties and gives additional de- 
light. Hence it renovates the imagination of 
the bard, and the very name of the flower gives 
harmony to his numbers, as its odours give sweet- 
ness to the air. To paint this universal emblem 
of delicate splendor in its own hues, the pencil 
should be dipped in the tints of Aurora, when 
arising amidst her aérial glory. Human art 
can neither colour nor describe so fair a flower. 
Venus herself feels a rival in the Rose, whose 
beauty is composed of all that is exquisite and 
graceful. Thus Roscoe tells us that 
“As Venus wandered midst the Idalian bower, 
And watched the Loves and Graces round her play, 
She plucked a musk rose from its dew-bent spray, 
And this, she cried, shall be my favorite flower; 
For o’er its crimson leaflets I will shower 
Dissolving sweets to steal the soul away.” 
It has been made the symbol of sentiments 
as opposite as various. Piety seized it to decorate 
the temples, while Love expressed its tender- 
ness by wreaths; and Jollity revelled adorned 
with crowns of roses. Grief strews it on the 
tomb, and Luxury spreads it on the couch. It 


