SILENCE. 
WHITE HOSE. 
The god of silence was represented under 
the form of a young man, with one finger 
placed on his lips, and holding a white rose 
in the other hand. We are told that Love 
gave him this rose to secure his favour. The 
ancients sculptured a rose over the doors of 
their festive halls to interdict the guests from 
repeating anything that was spoken. Byron 
has rendered it sacred to the silence of the 
tomb. In the “ Bride of Abydos,” he says, 
that o’er the tomb of Zuleika 
A single rose is shedding 
Its lovely lustre, meek and pale : 
It looks as planted by despair — 
So white, so faint, the slighest gale 
Might whirl the leaves on high. 
