THE FALL OF THE ROSE
What the First Bee sang, who knows
When he tempted the First Rose?
Some such tale the Flowers believe,
As the Serpent told to Eve.
Only this the Roses know:
Petals once as white as snow
To a burning crimson grew,
As her Loveliness she knew.
Then it was a leaf she took
Out of Eve’s own fashion-book;
And from Eden’s mosses wove
An apron chaste. In vain she strove,
For in that veil of emerald lace
The Moss Rose found an added grace.