הבצלת, Cant., ii, 1; Isaiah xxxv, 1. The rose, so much and so
often sung by the poets of Persia, Arabia, Greece, and Rome, is, indeed,
the pride of the garden for elegance of form, for glow of colour, and
fragrance of smell. Tournefort mentions fifty-three kinds, of which the
Damascus rose, and the rose of Sharon, are the finest. The beauty of
these flowers is too well known to be insisted on; and they are at this
day much admired in the east, where they are extremely fragrant. In what
esteem the rose was among the Greeks, may be learned from the fifth and
fifty-third odes of Anacreon. Among the ancients it occupied a
conspicuous place in every chaplet; it was a principal ornament in every
festive meeting, and at every solemn sacrifice; and the comparisons in
Ecclesiasticus xxiv, 14, and l, 8, show that the Jews were likewise much
delighted with it. The rose bud, or opening rose, seems in particular a
favourite ornament. The Jewish sensualists, in Wisdom ii, 8, are
introduced saying, “Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and
ointments; and let no flower of the spring pass by us. Let us crown
ourselves with rose buds before they are withered.”
often sung by the poets of Persia, Arabia, Greece, and Rome, is, indeed,
the pride of the garden for elegance of form, for glow of colour, and
fragrance of smell. Tournefort mentions fifty-three kinds, of which the
Damascus rose, and the rose of Sharon, are the finest. The beauty of
these flowers is too well known to be insisted on; and they are at this
day much admired in the east, where they are extremely fragrant. In what
esteem the rose was among the Greeks, may be learned from the fifth and
fifty-third odes of Anacreon. Among the ancients it occupied a
conspicuous place in every chaplet; it was a principal ornament in every
festive meeting, and at every solemn sacrifice; and the comparisons in
Ecclesiasticus xxiv, 14, and l, 8, show that the Jews were likewise much
delighted with it. The rose bud, or opening rose, seems in particular a
favourite ornament. The Jewish sensualists, in Wisdom ii, 8, are
introduced saying, “Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and
ointments; and let no flower of the spring pass by us. Let us crown
ourselves with rose buds before they are withered.”