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THE ROSE. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Rose ! thou art the sweetest flower 
That ever drank the amber shower ; 
Rose ! thou art the fondest child 
Of dimpled Spring, the wood nymph wild. 
Anacreon. 
SHE Rose, the emblem of beauty and the pride 
of Flora, reigns Queen of the Flowers in every 
part of the globe ; and the bards of all nations 
and languages have sung its praises. Yet 
what poet has been able, or language sufficient, 
to do justice to a plant that has been denom¬ 
inated the Daughter of Heaven, the glory of 
spring, and the ornament of the earth ? As 
it is the most common of all that compose the 
garland of Flora, so it is the most delightful. 
Every country boasts of it, and every behold¬ 
er admires it. Poets have celebrated its charms without exhausting 
its eulogium; for its allurements increase upon a familiarity, and every 
fresh view presents new beauties, and gives additional delight. Hence 
it renovates the imagination of the bard, and the very name of the 
flower gives harmony to his numbers, as its odors give sweetness to 
th° air. 
