When God first viewed the rose He'd made <br /> He smiled, and thought it passing fair; <br /> Upon the bloom His hands He laid, <br /> And gently blessed each petal there. <br /> He summoned in His artists then <br /> And bade them paint, as ne'er before, <br /> Each petal, so that earthly men <br /> Might love the rose for evermore. <br /> <br /> With Heavenly brushes they began <br /> And one with red limned every leaf, <br /> To signify the love of man; <br /> The first rose, white, betokened grief; <br /> 'My rose shall deck the bride,' one said <br /> And so in pink he dipped his brush, <br /> 'And it shall smile beside the dead <br /> To typify the faded blush.' <br /> <br /> And then they came unto His throne <br /> And laid the roses at His feet, <br /> The crimson bud, the bloom full blown, <br /> Filling the air with fragrance sweet. <br /> 'Well done, well done!' the Master spake; <br /> 'Henceforth the rose shall bloom on earth: <br /> One fairer blossom I will make,' <br /> And then a little babe had birth. <br /> <br /> On earth a loving mother lay <br /> Within a rose-decked room and smiled, <br /> But from the blossoms turned away <br /> To gently kiss her little child, <br /> And then she murmured soft and low, <br /> 'For beauty, here, a mother seeks. <br /> None but the Master made, I know, <br /> The roses in a baby's cheeks.'<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/roses-136/
