Women and Roses

( Men and Women , 1855; Lyrics , 1863; Dramatic Lyrics , 1868.) The singer dreams of a red rose tree with three roses on its branches; one is a faded rose whose petals are about to fall,—the bees do not notice it as they pa ; the second is a rose in its perfection, its cup “ruby-rimmed,” its heart “nectar-brimmed,”—the bee revels in its nectar; the third is a baby rosebud. And in these flowers the poet sees types of the women of the ages,—the past, the present, and the future: the shadows of the noble and beautiful, or wicked women in history and poetry dance round the dead rose; round the perfect rose of the present dance the spirits of the women of to-day; round the bud troop the little feet of maidens yet unborn; and all dance to one cadence round the dreamer’s tree. The dance will go on as before when the dreamer has departed, roses will bloom then for other beholders, and other dreamers will see and remember their loveline ; the creations of the poet even must join the dance. As the love of the past, so the love to come, must link hands and trip to the measure.