HERB - "Hortulus" - "Rose"

[RAISYA@aol.com]

And here's one of the longest poems. - Raisya

"XXVI.  Rose

	I am tired.  To travel further this road would exhaust
My failing strength; the rough path of untried song
Frightens me.  Else, as I ought, I should
Crown my precious roses with gold from the Pactolus
And the sparkling jewels of Araby.
									Since Germany
Yields no tint of Tyrian purple and the wide realm
Of France cannot boast the proud glow of murex,
For us the rose from year to year renews in abundance
The yellow stamens of its crimson flower.
Far and away the best of all in power and fragrance,
It well deserves its name "the Flower of Flowers".
It colors the oil which bears its name.  No man can say,
No man remember, how many uses there are
For Oil of Roses as a cure for mankind's ailments.
Over against it grows the famous lily;
Its flowers breathe a scent which hangs
Long in the air; but he who crushes the gleaming buds
Of its snow-white flowers will find to his amazement
That the heavenly perfume, sweet as a scattering of nectar,
Vanishes in a moment.
						For in this flower
Shines Chastity, strong in her sacred honor.
If no unclean hand disturbs her, if
No illicit passion does violence to her,
The flower smells sweetly.  But should her pride of innocence
Be lost, the scent turns foul and noisome.
	These two flowers, so loved and widely honored,
Have throughout the ages stood as symbols
Of the Church's greatest treasures; for it plucks the rose
In token of blood shed by the Blessed Martyrs;
The lily it wears as a shining sign of its faith.
	O Holy Mary, Mother from whose womb was born
The son, Virgin of purest faith, though bride
In name of Joseph, O Bride and Queen and Dove,
Our Refuge and our Friend for ever - pluck Thou
Roses for war, for peace the smiling lily!
To Thee came a flower of the royal stem of Jesse
A single Son to restore the ancient line.
By His holy word and life He sanctified
The pleasant lily, dying,
He gave its color to the rose.
Peace and war He left for His church on earth,
And the virtues of peace and war are joined in Him;
In Him their triumphs eternal reward."

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