The Rose by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894)

O Rose, thou flower of flowers, thou fragrant wonder,

Who shall describe thee in thy ruddy prime;

Thy perfect fulness in the summer time;

When the pale leaves blushingly part asunder

And show the warm red heart lies glowing under?

Thou shouldst bloom surely in some sunny clime,

Untouched by blights and chilly Winter's rime,

Where lightninggs never flash, nor peals the thunder.

And yet in happier spheres they cannot need thee

So much as we do with our weight of woe;

Perhaps they would not tend, perhaps not need thee,

And thou wouldst lonely and neglected grow;

And He Who is All-Wise, He hath decreed thee

To gladden earth and cheer all hearts below.

wiki/Christina_Rossetti

Roses of Picardy

She is watching by the poplars

Colinette with the sea blue eyes

She is watching and longing and waiting

Where the long white roadway lies

And a song stirs in the silence

As the wind in the boughs above

She listens and starts and trembles

'Tis the first little song of love

Roses are shining in Picardy

In the hush of the silver dew

Roses are flowering in Picardy

But there's never a rose like you

And the roses will die with the summer time

And our roads may be far apart

But there's one rose that dies not in Picardy

'Tis the rose that I keep in my heart

And the years fly on forever

Til the shadows veil their sighs

But he loves to hold her little hand

And look in her sea blue eyes.

And he sees the rose by the poplars

Where they met in the bygone years

For the first little song of the roses

Is the last little song she hears

She is watching by the poplars

Colinette with the sea blue eyes

She is watching and longing and waiting

Where the long white roadway lies

And a song stirs in the silence

As the wind in the boughs above

She listens and starts and trembles

'Tis the first little song of love.

Reproduced below are the lyrics to the popular song Roses of Picardy, penned by British officer Frederick E. Weatherley (music by Haydn Wood) in 1916.
An instant popular favourite and performed widely, a film of the same name - and based around the First World War - was produced in 1927.
The song was invariably sung by British soldiers who had left behind a sweetheart when they enlisted (or were conscripted) for the Front in France and Flanders. However the song was written by Weatherley after he had conceived an affection for a French widow while receiving protection at her home in France.

De zaligen/ gedicht van De Mérode

‘De gele rozen lichten langs ‘t terras.

In diepe stoelen liggen zij te rusten,

De zaligen, die elkaar gelukkig kusten,

De toekomstloozen; heel hun leven was

Een dringen naar de voorgeweten uren,

Waar alles eensklaps in vergeten is;

‘t Verwaait nadat het stukgereten is

Hun oud bestaan; en nooit kan iets meer duren

Naast dit verzonken zijn, dit niet meer wezen,

Deze vervaarlijk stille eeuwigheid,

Dit weggevaagd zijn en terust geleid,

Waaruit zij langzaam stil en moe verrezen.

De regen een grijs kraalgordijn, een poos

Zacht tikkelend, laat door zijn lauwe kieren

Hun ’t paradijs nog zien met zijn revieren,

Achter de vlammen van de gele roos.’

Om dit gedicht te kunnen plaatsen moet allereerst de achtergrond van de roos in de poëzie van De Mérode worden belicht. In zijn bundel De rozenhof, geschreven net na zijn gevangenschap, spreekt de dichter over een witte en over een rode roos. De rode roos staat voor de seksuele hartstocht en de lichamelijk beleefde liefde, terwijl de witte roos veel meer duidt op de niet-zinnelijke, geestelijk beleefde liefde. Een illustratief kwatrijn uit De rozenhof is:

‘Hij zou mij geven wat mijn hart verkoos.

En Zijn beschaduwd aanzicht was een poos

Wachtend geheven, tot ik zachtjes zeide:

De roekeloos verreten witte Roos.’

ROSES

ROSES

You love the roses - so do I. I wish

They sky would rain down roses,

as they rain From off the shaken bush.

Why will it not?

Then all the valley would be pink and white

And soft to tread on.

They would fall as light As feathers,

smelling sweet; and it would be

Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!

~George Eliot (1819-1880)~

The last rose of summer,

Tis the last rose of summer,

Left blooming all alone,

All her lovely companions

Are faded and gone.

by Sir John Stevenson

Rosa, Jaques Brel

Rosa

C'est le plus vieux tango du monde

Celui que les têtes blondes

Ânonnent comme une ronde

En apprenant leur latin

C'est le tango du collège

Qui prend les rêves au piège

Et dont il est sacrilège

De ne pas sortir malin

C'est le tango des bons pères

Qui surveillent l'oeil sévère

Les Jules et les Prosper

Qui seront la France de demain

Rosa rosa rosam

Rosae rosae rosa

Rosae rosae rosas

Rosarum rosis rosis

C'est le tango des forts en thème

Boutonneux jusqu'à l'extrême

Et qui recouvrent de laine

Leur coeur qui est déjà froid

C'est le tango des forts en rien

Qui déclinent de chagrin

Et qui seront pharmaciens

Parce que papa ne l'était pas

C'est le temps où j'étais dernier

Car ce tango rosa rosae

J'inclinais à lui préférer

Déjà ma cousine Rosa

Rosa rosa rosam

Rosae rosae rosa

Rosae rosae rosas

Rosarum rosis rosis

C'est le tango des promenades

Deux par seul sous les arcades

Cernés de corbeaux et d'alcades

Qui nous protégeaient des pourquoi

C'est le tango de la pluie sur la cour

Le miroir d'une flaque sans amour

Qui m'a fait comprendre un beau jour

Que je ne serais pas Vasco de Gama

Mais c'est le tango du temps béni

Où pour un baiser trop petit

Dans la clairière d'un jeudi

A rosi cousine Rosa

Rosa rosa rosam

Rosae rosae rosa

Rosae rosae rosas

Rosarum rosis rosis

C'est le tango du temps des zéros

J'en avais tant des minces des gros

Que j'en faisais des tunnels pour Charlot

Des auréoles pour saint François

C'est le tango des récompenses

Qui vont à ceux qui ont la chance

D'apprendre dès leur enfance

Tout ce qui ne leur servira pas

Mais c'est le tango que l'on regrette

Une fois que le temps s'achète

Et que l'on s'aperçoit tout bête

Qu'il y a des épines aux Rosa

Rosa rosa rosam

Rosae rosae rosa

Rosae rosae rosas

Rosarum rosis rosis

"The Rose"

"The Rose"
Is a pop song written by Amanda McBroom and made famous by Bette Midler, who performed it in the 1979 movie The Rose.

Some say love, it is a river

that drowns the tender reed.

Some say love, it is a razor

that leaves your soul to bleed.

Some say love, it is a hunger,

an endless aching need.

I say love, it is a flower,

and you its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking

that never learns to dance.

It's the dream afraid of waking

that never takes the chance.

It's the one who won't be taken,

who cannot seem to give,

and the soul afraid of dyin'

that never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely

and the road has been to long,

and you think that love is only

for the lucky and the strong,

just remember in the winter

far beneath the bitter snows

lies the seed that with the sun's love

in the spring becomes the rose.

.