440 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
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. 
‘White as the native Rose before the change, 
Which Venus’ blood dic 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 
