Poetry Friday: Rose Poems
March 9th, 2007 at 10:01 am (Holidays, Poetry Friday)
Today is Middle Name Pride Day, so it seems appropriate for me to share some poems about roses for Poetry Friday since my middle name happens to be Rose! Some of my favorite rose poems are from Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies of the Summer (1925). The most famous is, of course, “The Song of the Rose Fairy”, which I love, but there is another one that I adored when I was little from the same book called “The Song of the Wild Rose Fairy”. I’ve decided to share both since I doubt most people have heard the second unless they’ve actually read the book. The art should be fairly familiar since Barker’s fairies are everywhere now and the poems wouldn’t be complete without them!
The Song of the Rose Fairy
Best and dearest flower that grows,
Perfect both to see and smell;
Words can never, never tell
Half the beauty of a Rose-
Buds that open to disclose
Fold on fold of purest white,
Lovely pink, or red that glows
Deep, sweet-scented. What delight
To be Fairy of the Rose!
The Song of the Wild Rose Fairy
I am the queen whom everybody knows:
I am the English Rose;
As light and free as any Jenny Wren,
As dear to Englishmen;
As joyous as a Robin Redbreast’s tune,
I scent the air of June;
My buds are rosy as a baby’s cheek;
I have one word to speak,
One word which is my secret and my song,
‘Tis “England, England, England” all day long.
Happy Middle Name Pride Day! I hope you like your middle name as much as I do mine! Fun fact for the day: Lynn is the most common middle name in America (it works for both boys and girls, so this isn’t a big shock).
And for more about Cicely Mary Barker and her wonderful flower fairies visit FlowerFairies.com!
dana brazie said,
June 6, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I am a pre-school teacher. There is a poem referrenceing a child to a rosebud. A parent gives you their child as a rosebud, and you return the child as a bloomed rose. Do you know what I am talking about? If so can you please forward poem. Thank you, Dana Brazie. Kidz Academy408 2619523
kjment@aol.com