HOW LARGE IS A ROSE?
I said to a gardener old one day,
“How large is a rose; how large is a rose?”
He measured an inch and a half each way
And kindly smiled as a gardener may:
“Measured by inches I should say
That that’s the size of a rose.”
I said to a bride one night in June,
“How large is a rose; how large is a rose?”
“By the memory sweet of an old love tune,
And the vows that were pledged by the light of the moon,
Measured by these, all passed too soon.
Ah, that’s the size of a rose.”
But still my question perseveres,
“Oh, sorrowing one, how large is a rose?”
And withered and dead as her hopes and fears
She showed me the roses of other years,
The blighted blossoms bathed in tears.
“Ah, that’s the size of a rose.”
I said at last, “Oh, heart my own,
How large is the Rose, Sweet Sharon’s Rose?”
“Measured from Calvary’s suffering moan
Where mortals weep o’er their sins, and groan,
Up to Immanuel’s conquering throne,
Lo! that’s the size of the Rose.”
—James Albert Burchit.