Red rose, proud rose, sad rose of all my days!
Come near me, while I sing the ancient ways.
- William Butler Yeats
flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile, some have a sad expression, some are pensive and diffident, others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.
- Henry Ward Beecher
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love,
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
- John Boyle O’Reilly
If seeds in the black earth can turn into such beautiful roses, what might not the heart of man become in its long journey toward the stars?
- G.K. Chesterton