ENGLAND had its Wars of the Roses. Here are two pacific thoughts on wild roses - red and white - from Robert Burns and Hugh MacDiarmid respectively.
THE ROSEBUD
A rosebud by my early walk,
Adown a corn-enclosed bawk,
Sae gently bent its thorny stalk
All on a dewy morning. -
Ere twice the shades o’ dawn are fled,
In a’ its crimson glory spread,
And drooping rich the dewy head,
It scents the early morning. –
bawk=strip of unploughed land
THE LITTLE WHITE ROSE
The rose of all the world is not for me.
I want for my part
Only the little white rose of Scotland
That smells sharp and sweet – and breaks the heart.
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