His Greatest Seal: Poems by the Rev. Francis Quintin-Arthur
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 The Symbolic Rose
A colorless rose I saw today
And I thought of lovely you
Just because it brings to mind
The lovely things you do and say
I looked at it thinking of you
And beamed a lovely smile
It stared at me and bloomed and blushed
Until it turned to red
It beckoned me to lift it up
And bring it straight to you
So I bring this rose to you today
It turned red just for you
Of all the flowers that so bloom,
Why only you, the lovely rose?
Because you speak so eloquently
The language of the one who loves?
Or just that you do symbolize
The tender care of those who love?
Is it because you stand out
In artistic beauty so unique
Compared to all the other flowers?
Or is it because you arouse one
To smile in the heart
To behold a rose as lovely as you are?
I assure you of my love for you
In holding hands with you
And let you know how much I care
By saying, “I love you.”
I shall walk through the thunderstorm
To come that close to you,
And I tell you in words also
That there's no one like you.
If you still do not read my heart,
I'll sound it in your ears;
But if it is too loud for you,
Then I assure you of my love
In the silence of this rose.
Strolling down the lane just now
I spied a flower shop
I went in there and saw roses
Caged in iceboxes
I picked the best and brought it here
To offer’t a better home
Could you give this rose a place to stay
In the confines of your heart?
On a splendid sunny spring day
I heard the love songs of the birds
In the middle of a gorgeous green field
With choicest flowers of all kinds
Hyacinths and daffodils and rhododendrons
Under a clear blue sky
On the only mound on the plain
I saw standing alone
What I have here before me now
Then it did dawn on me
The cause of all the birds’ love songs
As I stood staring at the rose
It leaned forward and dropped onto my chest
And led me straight on to you
I give this rose to you today
Nourished only for you
By the green field of the land
And the love songs of the birds
Again, splendid rose, why?
How come these thorns all over you
And still you stand out with such grace?
Are they aiming at those
Who fail to look like you?
Could you shed your piercing spears
Just before I get to you?
And if you should keep them,
Would you use them to shelter me,
Who long to be close enough
To admire your celestial flower
Protected by your thorns?
Why, glorious rose, why?
How come these thorns—
these prickly thorns
all around your stem?
Do they pierce to protect
Or just to throw off those
who seek utopian times?
I watched a seed begin to grow
In the garden amid the plants
I saw its stem bring forth in time
Sharp thorns that keenly hurt
It brought to mind the ills in life
We must go through some days
Not long ago I went back there
Do you know what I found this time?
That plant with its piercing thorns
Had borne a lovely rose
When I think of you from this time on
I'll remember just the rose
And forget about the thorns
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