A white rosebud for a guerdon.

A white rosebud for a guerdon.

Red as a rose of Harpocrate.

Red as a rose of Harpocrate.

You smell a rose through a fence:
If two should smell it, what matter?

You smell a rose through a fence:
If two should smell it, what matter?

There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the
thorns.

There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the
thorns.

Thus to the Rose, the Thistle:
Why art thou not of thistle-breed?
Of use thou'dst, then, be read more

Thus to the Rose, the Thistle:
Why art thou not of thistle-breed?
Of use thou'dst, then, be truly,
For asses might upon thee feed.

The rose that all are praising
Is not the rose for me.

The rose that all are praising
Is not the rose for me.

He that plants thorns must never expect to gather roses.

He that plants thorns must never expect to gather roses.

'Twas a yellow rose,
By that south window of the little house,
My cousin Romney gathered with read more

'Twas a yellow rose,
By that south window of the little house,
My cousin Romney gathered with his hand
On all my birthdays, for me. save the last;
And then I shook the tree too rough, too rough,
For roses to stay after.

She wore a wreath of roses,
The night that first we met.

She wore a wreath of roses,
The night that first we met.