Rose

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

A.E.Housman – To an Athlete Dying Young

Songs of Experience

My Pretty Rose-Tree
by William Blake

A flower was offered to me,
Such a flower as May never bore;
But I said, »I've a pretty rose-tree«,
And I passed the sweet flower o'er.

Then I went to my pretty rose-tree,
To tend her by day and by night;
But my rose turned away with jealousy,
And her thorns were my only delight.

Soon after sunrise in the morning she stole out from the tent, and rambling into some fields at a short distance, plucked a few wild roses and such humble flowers, purposing to make them into little nosegays and offer them to the ladies in the carriages when the company arrived.

The wild prairie rose was made the state flower of North Dakota in 1907.

One seeks the rose, always wary of the hidden thorn.

A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry:

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it ware ten thousand mile.

Graham Thomas is an English rose. It is unmatched for its intense yellow color and strong Tea rose fragrance.