34 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



Young Cupid once, or so the legend 

 runs, kissed a red rose, and in its heart 

 put love. Alas ! between its petals 

 there lurked a bee that stung his lips. 

 To still his cries of rage, his mother 

 strung on his bow a swarm of bees, 

 and plucking out the stings of others, 

 set them upon the rose's stalk in pun- 

 ishment. So both love and roses are 

 beset with thorns. 



The wild rose, token of simple- 

 hearted love, that stars the unmown 

 edges of the fields and rocky banks, is 

 the first of the wild tribe, coming 

 before its paler swamp sister unfurls, 

 or even the hardy little sand-rose bush 

 has budded. The slender-stemmed 

 musk-rose yields its fragrant charm 

 only at evening; it is capricious love. 

 The maiden-blush rose, well veiled in 

 green, says : " If you love me you will 

 find it out." The moss-bud answers: 



