THE 

 EOSE OF SHAEOlSr. 



ITi/peyic'.an ealycinum. 



AM the rose of Sharon^ and 

 the lily of the valleys. As 

 the lily among thorns^ so is 

 my love among the daugh- 

 ters. As the apple tree 

 among the trees of the wood, 

 so is my beloved among the 

 sons. I sat down under his 

 shadow with great delight, 

 and bis fruit was sweet to 

 my taste.^' Thus, in the 

 " Song of Songs, which is 

 Solomon's," the rose of 

 Shaion associates with luxurious 

 vegetation, a happy frame of 

 mind, an expectation satisfied, and is the 

 symbol of a blissful inspiration. Sharon 

 is all that country west of Jordan that lies between the 

 mountains of Central Palestine and the Mediterranean — 

 a country comprising the pastures whereon David^'s cattle 

 grazed — a country, too, of woods and waters, which might 

 with propriety have been named Goshen, the Flowery 

 Land. The rose of Sharon, thereforCj must be a flower 



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