112 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
account of the origin of the armour by which 
this flower is defended: 
Young Love, rambling through the wood. 
Found me in my solitude, 
Bright with dew and freshly blown, 
And trembling to the Zephyr’s sighs ; 
But, as he stooped to gaze upon 
The living gem with raptured eyes, 
It chanced a bee was busy there. 
Searching for its fragrant fare ; 
And, Cupid, stooping too, to sip, 
The angry insect stung his Up; 
And, gushing from the ambrosial cell, 
One bright drop on my bosom fell. 
Weeping, to his mother he 
Told the tale of treachery, 
And she, her vengeful boy to please, 
Strung his bow with captive bees, 
But placed upon my slender stem 
The poisoned stings she plucked from them: 
And none since that eventful morn 
Have found the flower without a thorn 
By the ancients the Rose was regarded as 
the emblem of joy. Accordingly, Comus, the 
god of feasting, was represented as a handsome 
young man, crowned with a garland of Roses, 
whose leaves glistened with dew-drops. As it 
